Flu shot availability fights the spread of the virus on campus
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October 29, 2014
Fall is officially here and so is flu shot season. The Student Health Clinic at SDSU provides opportunities to get flu shots in the residence halls and in the clinic located in the Wellness Center.
The flu shot clinics in the residence halls change location each week; however, the price for the flu
shot doesn’t. The shot costs $24 for students.
Carol Humburg is the Nursing Supervisor at the Student Health Clinic. She has worked at the clinic since 2009 and has been working as a nurse for over 30 years. Humburg said that the flu is classified as a respiratory infection.
“It is a two week time frame for you to build up full immunity or to take full advantage of the vaccine,” Humburg said.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website, the best time to get a flu shot is October.
“Many of them [students] are in congregate housing so between that and the classroom exposures there’s a lot of close contact and [the flu] is easily transmissible,” Humburg said.
Humburg said that if a student gets the flu the student is “not able to participate in classes or lectures, and that affects their ability to study and
do as well as they want to do with their degrees and their education.”
According to Humburg, when the Student Health Clinic goes to residence halls and provides immunizations to students, they invite nursing students to help give the shots and they invite pharmacy students to gain practice dealing with enrollment for students who want to get a shot.
Venita Winterboer, a lecturer for undergraduate nursing, said some
nursing students use the flu shot clinics in the residence halls toward clinical hours and other nursing students volunteer to help.
“It’s a skill that they have learned and they are getting to practice,” Winterboer said. “It helps them realize the value to be current on some of these immunizations.”
Winterboer said that nursing
Winterboer said that nursing students need to be in their second semester of nursing school because that is when they learn to give immunizations.
“It’s a great opportunity to provide a service for our campus,” Winterboer said.
Students are also passionate about getting and spreading awareness of flu shots.
Allison Guindon, is a senior biology pre- optometry student and president of Helping Everyone Reach Optimal Health (HEROH). HEROH focuses on topics ranging from sexual health to eating healthy to mental and emotional health.
“We promote health and kind of give awareness toward certain things that might be affecting college students,” Guindon said.
During the cold and flu season, Guindon said HEROH makes cold and flu care kits every year and then put them in the Student Health Clinic.
“It’s way more cost effective to get the flu shot than to have to go into the hospital when you get the flu,” Guindon said.
Students and faculty have multiple options on locations they can receive flu shots. The Student Health Clinic, Hy-Vee, Lewis Drug and Brookings Health System are a few of the locations offering flu shots in the Brookings community.
Humburg said the Student Health Clinic has the “intramuscular and intradermal” flu shots. The clinic does not have the flu mist.
“We’re always watching cost for the students,” Humburg said.
In addition to looking at the different costs of flu shots, the Student Health Clinic orders vaccinations from various companies so if a delay occurs from one manufacturer, the clinic still has a supply of flu shots.
The Student Health Clinic has administered 415 doses of the flu shot in the clinics held in the residential halls and in the Student Health Clinic location.
“It [prevention] comes down to wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands, don’t touch your face,” Humburg said.
