H1N1 vaccines available on campus

The Student Health Center will be offering H1N1 vaccinations at Wright Auditorium this week. Monday's clinic was for individuals who are considered to be at high risk to catch the flu. High-risk individuals include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months, healthcare professionals and individuals between ages 7-24 with chronic medical problems.

The vaccination will be offered to all other students from Nov. 3-6. The clinic will move to Wright Place on Nov. 4 and 6. Individuals will be able to receive the vaccination in the form of a nasal mist or a shot.

Jolene Jernigan, the director of the SHC, said ECU received 3,600 nasal mist vaccinations and 400 shots. Jernigan said the vaccinations are state and federally funded and will be offered to students and staff at no charge. Students should bring their ECU OneCards and their Banner IDs to the vaccination site.

Jernigan said the SHC would be putting in requests to receive more vaccinations when their current supply runs out. Jernigan said the supply they received is contingent on the number of vaccinations they give out.

"If we have a week where we don't give any out, they'll cut us back drastically," she said.

Jernigan also said the vaccinations should be fully accessible everywhere by the end of November.

The CDC assures that "no shortage of 2009 H1N1 vaccine is expected, but vaccine availability and demand can be unpredictable and initially the vaccine may be available in limited quantities."

The SHC initially wanted to offer the vaccinations only to students, but decided to include faculty and staff when they considered the possibility of students contracting the virus from professors and other faculty.

Jernigan said one of the side effects of the nasal spray may be nasal stuffiness. Mild fevers and muscle aches are other possible side effects of both the mist and the shot. The CDC Web site also lists "soreness, redness, tenderness or swelling" at the injection site as side effects of the shot.

Jernigan said that the mist has received good reviews by individuals who have already received it for the seasonal flu, and it is a nice alternative to those who do not like shots.

According to the CDC, "The viruses in the flu shot are killed (inactivated), so you cannot get the flu from a flu shot." The viruses in the nasal spray are made with "live, weakened viruses, but do not cause the flu" as well.

Jernigan recommends that individuals who believe they've had the H1N1 virus, but have not had it confirmed by a test, still get vaccinated. She says that receiving the vaccination will not be harmful for anyone who has contracted the virus before. Jernigan states that it is not possible to contract the virus twice, so if an individual has tested positive for H1N1 before, it is not necessary to be vaccinated.

Jernigan said under the recommendations of the state, the SHC is not currently testing for the H1N1 virus. She said that 98 percent of the people tested for the flu have tested positive for the H1N1 virus. Therefore, the SHC and most health agencies are assuming that anyone who presents symptoms of the flu has the H1N1 virus.

Once influenza activity has been documented in a geographic area, the CDC says people with flu-like symptoms do not need influenza testing for clinical management or administration of anti-viral treatments.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.