Emily Schoch | Staff Writer
Baylor Health Services offers flu shots on the second floor of the McLane Student Life Center to ensure that students stay safe and healthy during the holiday session.
Dr. Sharon Stern, student health and wellness medical director at Baylor, said that getting the flu vaccine is a simple yet critical step in avoiding illness, especially in a bustling campus environment where germs spread quickly.
Stern said getting the flu shot annually is important to allowing the vaccine to effectively keep you healthy. Appointments to get the flu shot at Baylor can be made in the Health Portal, and no out-of-pocket payment is required.
“What we have noticed is that people who get a flu shot every year are more protected than people who just get one and don’t get one for 10 years,” Stern said.
A flu shot works by introducing inactivated or weakened influenza virus components into your body, prompting the immune system to recognize the virus and create antibodies to fight it without causing illness.
“We think that immunity, kind of, is compounded by getting that flu shot every year. It’s just reminding your body about the immunity it has against all different strains, and so it is really helpful and protective,” Stern said.
Baylor Health Services has given out over 1,422 flu shots this year, but Stern said there is always room for improvement. She said the key to stopping the spread of the flu on campus is more people getting vaccinated.
“In general, you want to have at least 60% to 70% of your population [vaccinated], because that way you don’t have really bad outbreaks,” Stern said.
According to Stern, flu outbreaks occur every year — usually in January — because students are starting to come back to school from the holidays.
“Every single year we get a big outbreak of flu, particularly right after we come back in January. Sorority rush partly fuels or starts that, and then it kind of trickles into February.”
San Jose, Calif., sophomore Hanna Ciprian said she contracted the flu during sorority recruitment as a freshman.
“After recruitment, I was extremely sick. I think I was in my dorm room for three days straight. I didn’t receive my flu vaccine,” Ciprian said. “I feel like if I had, I wouldn’t have had as severe of a strain of the flu or I wouldn’t have had it at all.”
