By Sarah Hinnant
This flu season seems especially bad this year now that Boston has declared a public health emergency, and doctors say that this season is a shock partly because we had so little flu last year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 22,048 flu cases from Sept. 30 through the end of 2012. By this time last year only 849 flu cases had been reported nationwide. So what are people doing to prevent this drastic increase in flu cases?
“I went to my local pharmacy to receive the flu shot for this years’ strand because I could not afford to miss class or work,” said Sarah Horne, a William Peace University student.
It is particularly crucial for college students to receive the flu shot this season due to the severity of the strand, which makes all students on campus’ at high risk of catching it from their peers.
“In order to keep our students and staff as healthy as possible during this season of colds and flu we encourage everyone on campus to receive the flu shot at our flu clinic we have on campus,” said William Peace nurse Debbie Potter.
“The convenience of free flu shots makes it easy for all my friends to get the vaccination so they do not spread the virus to me or anyone else,” Horne said.