Flu season is upon us and UCF does not want their students getting infected with the influenza virus.
UCF held its annual health expo Wednesday morning where students had an opportunity to get a free flu shot.
“On a campus like UCF where there is so many students, you can imagine how many people are touching the same door handles, the same desktops, the same computer keyboards,” said UCF marketing coordinator for Health Services, Megan Pabian. “Germs do circulate pretty quickly in this condensed environment.”
According to Florida Department of Health: “Estimates are that between 15 percent and 40 percent of the population will develop illness from influenza every year. An average of about 36,000 people per year in the United States die from influenza, and 114,000 per year have to be admitted to the hospital as a result of influenza infection.”
Some students said they are afraid that they might get infected with the flu virus and they want to avoid it at all cost.
Ryan Lundy, a junior Hospitality Management major from Germany, said he wants to be prepared for the flu season.
“I don’t want to get sick,” said Lundy. “I’m going to be starting a new job soon and I figured if I’m going to be working at Disney, I might as well get a flu shot when I’m going to be around all those people.”
“I remember getting sick once a long time ago and it was the end of the flu season so I wasn’t sure if it was the flu or not, but every since then I’ve always gotten the flu shot just to be safe,” added Lundy.
Although, most people get the flu shot to be safe. A common misconception is that the flu shot makes you more susceptible to getting the flu virus.
“That is totally false, that is a myth,” said Pabian. “You do not get the flu from getting a flu shot. After getting a flu shot you can expect maybe a little soreness in your arm, you might feel a little bit tired, but other than that those are the only side effects and their gone within 12 hours after getting the shot.”
Sometimes the flu shot won’t work well with fighting against the flu virus.
Every year scientists attempt to forecast which virus strains on the loose that will infect people when flu season hits.
“The flu is always unpredictable, but the best defense is getting a flu shot,” said Pabian. “The flu shot does contain protection for the most common strands that they predict will be circulating this flu season.”
“Get a flu shot and then after that make sure you’re using good hand hygiene,” added Pabian.
