As the school year begins and summer comes to a close, another flu season approaches.
And, as is standard, people are always encouraged to get the annual flu shot. However, the seemingly ubiquitous vaccine is not as commonly administered as might be expected — especially among college students.
According to the American College Health Association’s Spring 2015 survey, about 46 percent of college students said they were vaccinated at some point over the year.
At a local level, the number of students also seems slim. Of the 6,350 flu shots ASU Health Services administered last year, an estimated 2,000-to-4,000 were given to students — less than about 4.8 percent of the 83,000 students enrolled at ASU, ASU Health Services director Stefanie Schroeder said.
While many students possibly received the vaccination elsewhere, some students, like first year law student Yoonho Ji, didn’t get the vaccination at all, saying they didn’t feel an urgent need to get the shot.
“I got flu shots when I was working, before starting school, because they had flu shots at work,” Ji said. “But I didn’t really think about getting one when I came here.”
Schroeder stressed the importance of the flu shot and said the department tries to get as many people vaccinated as possible by educating students on the severity of the flu.
“There are some skeptics out there, everybody has different values,” she said. “Some people get the flu shot to protect others like little kids or older people. We tell students to get the flu vaccine because if you get the flu, you’ll be out of class for seven to 10 days.”
Schroeder also said a lack of knowledge and fear of needles negatively affects the vaccination rates.
“When there’s some misinformation that they have, we try to correct it,” Schroeder said. “Some students do choose to get the vaccine at that time, but some people are just afraid of needles and would rather get the flu than get a shot."
She also said that it is highly unlikely to become sick from the vaccine itself.
This misconception is a common one. Business, sports and media studies sophomore Sam Zigman said he thought the vaccine gave him the flu.
“I thought that it was my immune system,” he said. “I figured it was an effect of the flu vaccine.”
Zigman, who is also a residential engagement leader, said more student awareness is needed.
“If I were to ask some of my residents on my floor, they would not be aware of the availability,” he said. “They definitely can get the word out earlier.”
Health services staff said they know that the lack of knowledge of the vaccine is an issue and push for more vaccinations every fall.
“I think we’re getting better every year,” Schroeder said. “We’re going all out to reach our goal of vaccinating as many students as we can each year.”
Schroeder said the flu vaccine is necessary, and that any chance of avoiding the flu should be taken.
“Having the flu is miserable, and it takes a while to bounce back,” Schroeder said. “Even if the vaccine isn’t 100 percent effective, it is better protection than no protection. If it’s 60 percent effective, then you have a 60 percent better chance of not getting the flu.”
Reach the reporter at Emmillma@asu.edu or follow @Millmania1 on Twitter.
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