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Flu Season: The Worst May Be Over
by Yonatan Arnold
Sign of the times at Student Support Services office
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This is the season of flu and colds, but the worst may be over, according to Leslie Anderson, RN - director of medical services at the Mars Hill College Wellness Center.
The Center received 320 visits during February from students who were feeling sick, but the numbers peaked during the second week of the month and have been declining since then.
Of the many visitors, 30 were diagnosed with the flu. Most of the rest had other upper respiratory illnesses (viruses or colds, etc.).
Anderson says she has seen more flu this year than during the last three years.
The number of flu cases does not include cases reported to providers other than the Wellness Center and the Mars Hill Medical Center. The 320 visits include students who may have returned more than once.
The Center reported 86 visits the first week of February, and 3 cases of the flu. The second week saw a huge climb to 118 visits, and 17 cases of the flu. The third week saw a decline, with 75 total visits and 9 cases of the flu. The last week of February saw a continued decline, with 41 visits and only one case of the flu.
According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the flu season starts in December and goes all the way through March. However it peaks in February and declines after that.
So how can you tell the difference between a cold and the flu?
According to the CDC, "in general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose."
If you have a very high fever lasting for 3-4 days and a severe, nonproductive cough, then you have symptoms of the flu. There is no warning, whereas a cold comes on more gradually. With the flu, you will feel the onset suddenly.
Anderson says there are many ways to prevent the flu. The first thing you can do is get a flu shot. "The best time to get a shot is before the flu hits," she says. The Madison County Health Department sponsors a health fair in October, and that is the best time for students and faculty to get the vaccination, she says.
You can not get the flu shot when you start getting symptoms. Instead you will need to get anti-viral medication.
The best way to prevent colds, flu, or other viruses is to wash your hands, especially when you are done using the restroom or have been in public places. The flu is spread from person to person because of the droplets. "The flu virus can live a few seconds to 48 hours outside the body, depending on the type of surface," says Anderson.
Director of Medical Services Leslie Anderson
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Another way to be safe is to "cover coughs with your elbow, not your hands." This sounds simple, but when you have to cough, it is sometimes a habit for people to cover with their hands. The cold or virus is then spread when you touch a shared object (telephones, pens, doorknobs, counter space, itc.). So when you feel a cough coming, move the bend, or inside of your elbow, toward your face and then cough.
Now what do you do when you think you have the symptoms of the flu? The best thing for students to do is go to the Wellness Center, says Anderson.
Sign in first of all. If you are coughing and sneezing and have a stuffy nose, you will be asked to put on a mask for the safety of others.
Before you sign in, you are asked to sanitize your hands with sanitizer that is on the sign-in table. You will then be assessed by Anderson or the medical provider, if they are available at the time of the visit.
A medical provider -- which can be a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant --comes in on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. They are here only from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on a first-come first-served basis. If the provider thinks that you could have the flu, you will be sent to the Mars Hill Medical Center on 119 Mountain View road in Mars Hill for flu testing. There you will be given a nasal swab to test if you have the flu and will be treated accordingly.
"I don't diagnose," said Anderson. She is a licensed Registered Nurse (RN), but her license does not authorize her to diagnose. That is why you have to go to the medical center or be at the Wellness Center when the medical provider is here to be diagnosed for anything.
Tamiflu is an anti-viral medication that Anderson says "shortens the length and severity of the flu." You will have to get the medication -- a prescription course of pills -- "within 48 hours of onset of symptoms" for it to be effective. "Your fever should subside and should last only a couple of days, but this will vary with each person depending on their own immune system," says Anderson. This is comparably better than the flu lasting about a week without the medication.
If you have any medical questions, Anderson is glad to help and is available for questions.
Correction: This article has been changed to indicate that
Tamiflu is a prescription course of pills, not a shot.
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