2008 Woodie Awards
Flu shots available to students
Michael Harvey
Issue date: 10/27/05 Section: News
What's more dreadful than Dracula and more despicable than a demon? The flu.
After last year's shortage of flu shots, students wonder if they should be worried about a repeat this year.
Amy Ganske, campus nurse, and Diane Davis, a nurse with the Linn County Public Health Department, say "no."
Ganske will offer immunizations at the Cedar Rapids campus on Nov. 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Nov. 2 from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Governor's Room, on the third floor of Iowa Hall. Immunizations will be offered at the Iowa City campus on Nov. 10 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the conference room in the main office. No appointments are necessary and vaccines will be given until the supply of 100 runs out. The cost is $20 cash. Anyone seeking the vaccine must be 18 or older.
Kirkwood, while not requiring flu shots, highly encourages faculty and staff members to get the vaccination and is offering it to them by appointment. Ganske said no flu cases have been reported in Iowa yet but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Other measures can be taken to prevent catching the flu.
"The number one thing is hand washing. I can't stress that enough," Ganske said.
Davis agreed that strict hand washing is the foundation for good flu prevention and advised ill students to stay home to minimize spreading it. Ganske recommended using antibacterial hand wash as well as eating a proper diet, drinking eight glasses of water per day and getting plenty of rest.
Unfortunately, flu shots won't protect against Avian influenza commonly known as the bird flu. No vaccination against the bird flu is available but no cases have yet been found in the United States. With reported cases of the virus in Europe and Asia, vaccine development is underway. The most common route of transmission is from an infected bird to human. The virus can survive in raw meat but is eradicated if the meat is fully cooked.
Flu season is just beginning but with proper prevention anyone can beat the bug.
After last year's shortage of flu shots, students wonder if they should be worried about a repeat this year.
Amy Ganske, campus nurse, and Diane Davis, a nurse with the Linn County Public Health Department, say "no."
Ganske will offer immunizations at the Cedar Rapids campus on Nov. 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Nov. 2 from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Governor's Room, on the third floor of Iowa Hall. Immunizations will be offered at the Iowa City campus on Nov. 10 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the conference room in the main office. No appointments are necessary and vaccines will be given until the supply of 100 runs out. The cost is $20 cash. Anyone seeking the vaccine must be 18 or older.
Kirkwood, while not requiring flu shots, highly encourages faculty and staff members to get the vaccination and is offering it to them by appointment. Ganske said no flu cases have been reported in Iowa yet but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Other measures can be taken to prevent catching the flu.
"The number one thing is hand washing. I can't stress that enough," Ganske said.
Davis agreed that strict hand washing is the foundation for good flu prevention and advised ill students to stay home to minimize spreading it. Ganske recommended using antibacterial hand wash as well as eating a proper diet, drinking eight glasses of water per day and getting plenty of rest.
Unfortunately, flu shots won't protect against Avian influenza commonly known as the bird flu. No vaccination against the bird flu is available but no cases have yet been found in the United States. With reported cases of the virus in Europe and Asia, vaccine development is underway. The most common route of transmission is from an infected bird to human. The virus can survive in raw meat but is eradicated if the meat is fully cooked.
Flu season is just beginning but with proper prevention anyone can beat the bug.