With the recent uproar over Ebola it is important to remember facts over fear. The fact is that it isn’t likely that anyone at UCF is going to contract Ebola but there is a good chance that you will get the flu this winter.
Ebola first came to the United States in late September when Thomas Duncan traveled to Dallas, Texas from Liberia. He was diagnosed with Ebola, and later died of the sickness, at Texas Presbyterian Hospital. Later, two healthcare workers from the same hospital, who helped care for Duncan, contracted the disease and have since recovered and been released. There has also been another reported case in New York City and that patient is currently receiving treatment at a hospital there. It is clear that the people most at risk of getting Ebola are health care workers who deal directly with someone who has the sickness.
With more people surviving Ebola infections in the U.S. it is becoming clearer that it is not an imminent threat to the health of average Americans. Ebola is transmitted through exposure to the bodily fluids of an infected person while the flu can be caught by simply breathing the same air as someone who is sick.
This doesn’t mean that measures haven’t been taken to protect UCF students from possibly getting Ebola. The campus has gone through the necessary routines to ensure the safety of students.
“Our intention is to keep the campus safe, we’ve contacted international students from the affected countries and made sure they were healthy, we screen our patients when they make appointments at the health center,” explains Dr. Michael Deichen, the Director of UCF Health Services. “The levels of protection are getting greater and greater and the risk to individuals remains relatively small.”
While a handful of people in the United States have gotten Ebola, thousands of people get the flu each year.
30-40% of people who do not receive a flu vaccination will get the flu according to Dr. Deichen.
“It’s airborne so just being in the same room as someone puts you at risk of catching influenza,” said Deichen.
With some classes at UCF having close to 300 students in them, an outbreak of influenza on campus is extremely likely so it is in your benefit to protect yourself, and those around you, from getting this. Vaccination is the key.
Flu shots are available in the UCF Health Center and are free to all UCF students no appointment needed.
