A: So glad you asked. Tis nearly the season (the very, very lengthy season) of freezing your bum off in the outdoors, accompanied by its bosom buddy, the flu season, so now is the best time for flu shots if you're going to get one this year. For someone who's not under six months or over 50 years old (which you're probably not), vaccination against the flu isn't entirely necessary, although it's probably a good idea. A flu shot would protect even "fairly healthy" you from 70-90 percent of the flu bugs out there this year, along with the associated fevers, muscle aches, runny noses, sore throats and headaches they cause. However, if you happen to have diabetes, asthma or other lung conditions, heart or kidney conditions or immune system problems (poor you!), vaccination might very well save you a trip to the hospital. Catching a flu can make all of those conditions worse or lead to more serious complications, including pneumonia, ear and sinus infections and severe dehydration.
So if you aren't a fan of flu-like symptoms, have one of those conditions, or just want to be courteous to others by making sure you don't infect them (particularly if you spend a lot of time with young kids or elderly people, or working in a hospital/clinic-even if you won't be there until Interterm), getting the flu shot should be on your to-do list. In fact the only people who should not consider it are people with severe egg allergies (since the vaccine is grown in chicken eggs) or those who've had a bad reaction to a previous flu shot.
Other colleges are having trouble getting enough doses of this year's vaccine for their students, but not us! (Insert maniacal laugh here.) The College already has a full supply of the vaccine just waiting for you potential vaccinees in Health Services. For $15, the friendly staff of Health Services will stick you with this year's updated version of the flu vaccine (flu viruses change really fast, so that flu shot you got last year won't protect you through this one). All you need to do is call and make an appointment, though if you've got a fever when you're supposed to get your shot, you'll have to come back a few days later. Post-shot, you might feel a bit under the weather for one or two days, but two weeks later, you'll be full of exciting anti-flu antibodies to keep your immune system going strong.
Whether you get a flu shot or not, you can (and should!) help prevent the flu by washing your hands with good ol' soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you sneeze, cough, handle food, handle friends, etc. You can transmit the flu from one day before your first symptoms until five days after. Even if you're feeling fine and dandy, lots and lots of hand washing is a good idea. As they say, cleanliness is next to ... healthiness.
On another and totally unrelated note, an announcement: To state the obvious, eating is central to our lives because, well, we need to do it to stay alive. While some students aren't puzzled by nutrition labels or food pyramids, many new to creating their own meals may be confused or uncertain about how to best meet their nutritional needs. Fortunately, the Student Health Educators' snazzy new Nutrition Workshop can give you the tools you need to navigate the wilds of the Valentine servery without losing your cool or your healthy habits. (If you didn't come to the College with healthy habits, this is a great way to start!). You can learn more about the Nutrition Workshop by asking your Resident Counselor or any Student Health Educator.
E-mail she@amherst.edu with your questions (we won't ever use your name in the column), and check back in two weeks to see which one we've chosen to tackle. Go forth, and be healthy!
–Alison Klurfeld '07 and Andrea Gyorody '07