Those complaining that “the bug” is making its way around campus might be surprised to know that this flu season hasn’t been as severe as in years past.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this flu season, which extends from October to April, has been especially mild across the country. The CDC also states that this is the mildest season the country has seen in the past three years.
Director of Penn’s Student Health Services Evelyn Wiener wrote in an email that the mild season can be attributed to several possible reasons.
She explained that the influenza strain changes every year. “Sometimes the changes in their makeup are relatively minor,” she wrote. “When this is the case, many people may have some degree of immunity from past years, helping to stop the spread to others who are not immune.”
She also thinks the mild season can be attributed to an increase in people seeking flu vaccines.
“As more people are immunized against flu, the likelihood of widespread transmission goes down.” At Penn, the number of students receiving vaccinations jumped from around 3,500 in 2009 to 2010 to 5,000 this year.
According to first-year dental student Corey Campbell, Penn’s Dental school requires its students to receive flu vaccinations.
Other explanations Wiener gave to explain the lack of outbreaks this year include warm weather and the possibility that designers of this year’s flu vaccine were able to better predict which strains would circulate than in previous years.
Penn students have also noticed a decrease from previous years in flu-like symptoms. Both College freshman Gilana Jaffe and first-year Dental student Jake Britt agree that this has been a light flu season.
But Wiener warns that there is still potential for this year to be a heavy influenza season, adding that there are sometimes outbreaks at the beginnings and ends of the season.
The CDC reported incidents of the flu in the West, South and upper Midwest this past week, Wiener added.
“So it is possible that we will begin to see cases in this area in the next few weeks.”
Regardless of whether this remains a mild season or transforms into a pandemic, Wiener explained that it’s important to combat flu outbreaks.
“The best way to combat a flu outbreak or epidemic is to try to stop transmission from one person to another,” she wrote. “That means that people who are sick with influenza-like illness (fever, plus sore throat or cough) should minimize contact with others.”
Healthy individuals should wash their hands frequently and not share food or beverages. Wiener added that students who exhibit flu-like symptoms should contact SHS.
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