Flu Shots>Fall Leaves

You know fall is here when your arm is paralyzed from the flu shot! I got mine yesterday. CVS gives you a 20% off shopping coupon, and they accept nearly all insurance companies. Definitely get your flu shot this season. Oh, and I wrote about it for my opinion writing class: 

“Flu shots should be a required immunization”

By Eric Surber

The University of North Carolina should require all students to get annual flu vaccines in addition to their state-mandated immunizations.

Hundreds of students visit UNC Campus Health Services during the flu season, which runs from October through May, because of the flu. Nobody can cure the flu—not even Campus Health. So they turn the sick loose, maybe prescribing an antiviral, advising rest, Tylenol and plenty of fluids. The problem is that 53 percent of students live in dorms, where infections are easily passed between friends and roommates. 

North Carolina law requires all college students to have received vaccinations against eight communicable diseases before enrollment. The diseases, including polio, rubella and hepatitis B, rarely appear in the United States, much less North Carolina. Campus Health reported that flu cases accounted for 6 percent of weekly office visits in January 2013; fifteen North Carolinians died from the flu in the same month.

Flu shots keep people healthy. The Center for Disease control claims that flu shots have a 60 percent success rate, and if just 70 percent of Americans were vaccinated, then 110,000 people would’ve been spared a hospital visit. It’s a myth that flu shots cause the flu. The CDC has proven through 50 years of scientific tests that they prevent disease and keep people healthy. Healthy students are productive, attend class, do their homework and make a university flourish.

Healthy people also save time and money. Flu prevention is cheaper than treatment. Factoring the cost of an office visit and antiviral medications, treating the flu costs about five times more than a $25.00 shot. And doctors won’t treat many flu cases, amounting to lost time in the doctor’s office. Fewer flu cases clogging appointment books means doctors won’t waste their breath telling kids to “take it easy.”

Lastly, annual flu shots are already free to students and the university. UNC already requires all students to have health insurance, and most insurance companies cover an annual flu shot. Students pay for a flu shot even when they do not receive it. It’s just a matter of motivation.

The flu is deadly, and colleges must take it seriously. UNC should require students to defend themselves against a disease that killed 74 North Carolinians last year. Flu shots save lives and money. Better yet, their cost is typically free.