In the wake of a state-wide influenza epidemic, Kennesaw State students need to get their flu shots this semester — even if it is the only flu shot they ever get.
No, this is not just your mom wagging her finger when you skipped your flu shot. According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, there have been 56 hospitalizations due to the flu during this past week alone. That’s just a fraction of this season’s 307 total hospitalizations in Georgia.
Influenza is a more serious disease than its reputation implies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu-related deaths soar between 12,000-52,000 every year. Especially in a location as buzzing and congested as Metro Atlanta, it is easy for even the healthiest student to catch it.
Getting a flu shot is the most effective way to prevent influenza, according to Piedmont Healthcare. It could literally save your life, especially during a flu season as intense as Georgia has found itself in. Not only will it protect you, but it will hinder the people around you from catching it too.
While yes, getting a flu shot will not safeguard you from every existing strand of influenza, it will protect you from strands that are most likely to appear that year as determined by the CDC. That means that flu shot recipients are promised protection from the common strands of the flu that are spreading like wildfire across Georgia.
Suppose you get sick anyway – getting a flu shot will mild your symptoms because your body was better prepared for it. With a better prepared immune system, you are more likely to recover and get back to class faster.
Preventing the spread of the flu is so easy and so convenient if each of us takes advantage of immunizations. KSU’s own Student Health Services offers flu shots every Wednesday. If you are already out buying groceries, Publix will give away free $10 gift cards for every flu shot patient.
If my semester is reflective of how busy most college students’ schedules are, then no one on campus can afford to get sick this winter. Between classes, clubs, sports and jobs, there is no time to be stuck in bed with a fever. The solution – get a flu shot. It is effortless, and your lack of sick days will thank you.