Contributed Photo
Empty Theraflu bottles, painful loud sneezing, and moist tissues followed by a week in bed.
There are various ways of getting rid of the flu. Preventing it is another matter.
Fairfield University routinely provides a flu shot clinic open for all of the Fairfield University community. The flu shot, priced at $30, and the nasal mist version, at $35, were both available in the lower level of the Barone Campus Center from 1 p.m.-7 p.m. on October 26. Both were payable with cash, check, StagBucks or added to the tuition account charge, making it easy for students.
Despite the simplicity of the procedure, many students refused to take the shot because many believe it might make them sick instead of helping them fight the virus.
“It’s a common misconception,” said Lisa Tatosian, the owner of Preventa Health. The flu vaccine is often confused with being the receptor of the virus, but it is impossible to get sick because of it.
When the vaccine is injected, it is already killed, said Tatosian. In two weeks antibodies are created, so that when you’re around the flu, your body already has a blueprint of the disease so it can fight it.
The nasal mist, sprayed in the nose, is the live flu but it dies the minute it is out of the liquid form, said Tatosian.
It is important to take the shot every year because the virus mutates, according to Tatosian.
This miscommunication caused it to be “slow day today,” said Noemie Dos Santos, a registered nurse and a new grad from St. Vincent’s University in Bridgeport.
“The process is simple,” Dos Santos said. “Once the shot is injected in the deltoid muscle, drinking a lot of water and moving the hand is important. We see a lot of athletes, students, staff, professors and campus police,” she said.
Lauren Sippin, a junior at Fairfield University, is not going to take the shot this year.
“I don’t think I need it, plus I feel like it will just make me sick,” said Sippin. ”I don’t want to pay money to get sick.”
“If more people are aware of how the vaccine is made, what it is and what it does, perhaps more people will take the shot or the nasal mist,” said Kathy Alonzo, a nursing student here at Fairfield University.
There is still one more flu clinic session at Fairfield University that will be held November 6th at the lower level of the Barone Campus Center.
Leave a Reply