 "Photo: Matthew Chavez")
 "Photo: Matthew Chavez")
UPDATE: H1N1 available at the COS Student Health Center
The COS Student Health Center has received a batch of H1N1 vaccines. Anyone can take advantage of either the H1N1 or the seasonal flu shot for free.
In an informational e-mail released Dec 7 at 9:51 a.m. by Rosie Diaz of the Student Health Center, Diaz said that no appointments are necessary. Walk-ins can take advantage of free flu shots Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or Fridays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
All students, faculty and staff members can visit the Student Health Center for flu shots including family and friends. Anyone under the age of 18 must have adult consent.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Vaccines for H1N1 have been slow to make it to market” said COS Student Health Services Coordinator Stephanie Yocum. Vaccines for the seasonal flu are usually produced about one year in advance. “However, due to the timing of the new H1N1 virus, production has been slower than usual,” said Yocum. Many suppliers stopped or slowed production of the seasonal flu vaccine in order to fill demand for the H1N1 vaccine. As a result, delivery of both vaccines has been delayed.
There are two types of vaccines to help stave off the flu; one is an active or live virus, the other is an inactive or dead virus. Both are used to build anti-bodies within the patient to better fight the virus.
According to Yocum, the live virus can make some people feel a little ill due to the fact that it is a weakened version of the virus. However, the dead virus is relatively safer because it is introducing the virus to build anti-bodies but a dead virus cannot become live again. Regardless of the type (active or inactive), Yocum maintains that it is important to get the vaccine when it becomes available.
Yocum said she has requested doses of the H1N1 vaccine but has not received any yet. The date of arrival has been pushed back several times but Yocum remains optimistic that COS will receive its vaccines before Christmas.
When the swine flu epidemic first struck, officials at the Centers for Disease Control were informing the public to not go to the doctor, according to Yocum. The advice came from the belief that symptoms would resolve on their own because there wasn’t much that could be done, and as an attempt to keep carriers of the illness from spreading them in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms.
However, the best practice now is to head to the doctor as early as possible in order to receive care and keep the illness from getting worse.
H1N1 is different from the seasonal flu in that it is not especially dangerous for the weak and ill. The type of flu that the general public is used to seeing usually targets people with chronic diseases, the elderly and small children. H1N1 (or swine flu, as it has become known) seems to target healthy college-aged adults in their late teens to mid-twenties.
Illness and death rates of H1N1 are actually less than those of the seasonal flu.
The fact that it has hit healthy, young adults so hard is the main cause for concern. In fact, Yocum said, it seems as though people over the age of 65 have somewhat of a natural immunity to the disease.
The people at greatest risk for H1N1 are pregnant women and caregivers of children under 6 months of age. Healthcare and other medical personnel are next in line.
Yocum said prevention of the disease is easy. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face with unwashed hands. Refrain from touching your eyes, ears, nose and mouth. To prevent spreading germs after coughing or sneezing, Yocum advised to use a tissue and immediately throw it in the trash.
“It’s all the stuff we’ve told you about every other type of flu. Just the simple things,” she said.
Masks are helpful in some cases but are far from 100 percent safe, according to Yocum. Masks do limit the amount of spit that may travel through the air but she questions what contaminants the mask wearer already has on his or her body, clothing and hands. Yocum said that masks might create a false sense of safety.
“You could cough in your hand, put your hand on the doorknob, I touch the doorknob going out, touch my eyes. There you go,” Yocum said. “It’s been introduced. And you could have worn a mask.”
Yocum said it was wise to stay out of large crowds because the illness is contagious before a person begins to show symptoms. Social distancing, when possible, can be an effective defense mechanism since airborne illnesses can only travel about three to five feet in most cases.
For those who have contracted H1N1, Yocum advises self-isolation and to wait at least 24 hours after fever has subsided before returning to work or school. Yocum said it is important to have 24 hours without fever and without the aid of anti-fever medications.
“Figure three days of feeling pretty awful. And then another couple of days of recovery and then post-fever,” Yocum said.
Symptoms range from those one could expect in a mild cold to extreme sickness such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
2 comments
The new h1n1 vaccine in the 'R'ight arm because 'R' stands for 'R'ight Now Flu.
Yeah, I know. I should change my major to 'smart doctor stuff'.