CjB

With classes back in session for winter term, the UO health center has reached a high point in student traffic all thanks to this year’s hard hitting flu.  I would know, I tried to make an appointment last week and was barely squeezed in between the H1’s and the N1’s.  The Oregonian recently published an article* about the apparent strength of this year’s flu, which has reportedly packed more punch than in previous years.

However, there is still some hesitation regarding getting a flu shot.  Tara Haelle of redwineandapplesauce.com** has debunked many of the myths that justify some peoples’ resistance to the vaccination.  What is most shocking about her post is not the truth behind the myths, but the fantasy that some people believe about the shot.  These outrageous cries include the vaccine being linked to cardiovascular disease and even Alzheimer’s.  One of the most common myths that I’ve heard echoed by people who have chosen no to be vaccinated is that the shot actually causes the flu.  In the past I didn’t have a counter argument because my knowledge of the vaccine went insofar as to understand that the shot was a very small does of the virus itself.  It seems sensible enough that it might get out of hand in some people and turn into a full blown flu, right?  Wrong.  Blogger Haelle eloquently squashes this myth too.  Turns out, an individual is infected with the flu 2-5 days before feeling symptoms and the vaccine itself doesn’t protect a person until a few days after he or she receives it.  Therefore, the many cases of people getting the flu immediately following the vaccination are just a coincidence.  In fact, this coincidence is more of a testament to the prevalence of the flu and therefore the importance of getting protected than anything else.

*http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2014/01/this_flu_seasons_a_nasty_one_n.html

**http://www.redwineandapplesauce.com/2013/10/28/setting-the-record-straight-dubunking-all-the-flu-vaccine-myths/