Last semester, over 2,200 Tufts students flocked to Health Service for the flu vaccine, anxious to avoid the nasty virus that begins to heat up when the weather turns cold.
But despite the high turnout, many students still wound up swapping textbooks for tissue-boxes as they battled the relentless flu along with their friends who hadn't been vaccinated. The trusty flu vaccine doesn't always work: According to a Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) report, a vaccine from earlier this year had an effectiveness rate of only 44 percent, the least protective vaccine in a decade.
But the poor performance of last season's vaccine didn't dissuade hundreds of Tufts student from filing into Health Service to get vaccinated. Within 20 minutes from the start of Tuesday's 4 p.m. flu clinic, four nurses had already administered over 100 vaccines.
The potentially low effectiveness rate of some influenza vaccinations results from a lag in the development of the vaccinations. "The main problem with modern vaccines is that they aren't modernly made," said Mark Woodin, a community health and civil and environmental engineering professor at Tufts.
There is usually a long manufacture time after the initial determination of which seasonal viruses needed vaccines, and during the interim period new viruses often develop.
"A good use of dollars would be to explore a better vaccine infrastructure and distribution system. Last year was a particularly bad year for mismatches; essentially the flu vaccine was effective against the wrong viruses," he said.
In the meantime though, Woodin feels that there is "no downside" to getting vaccinated.
"I strongly believe everyone should get a flu vaccine, unless someone is contraindicated by personal medical issues, such as an egg allergy. There are very few people who can say, ‘I'm at relatively low risk for the flu and even if I get it, I'm not going to be exposing anyone else who's in a high-risk group.'"
According to CDC guidelines, high-risk groups include children six months through 18 years of age, pregnant women, people with chronic medical conditions and anyone age 50 and older.
"The side effects are miniscule and benefits can be tremendous," Woodin said.
Sophomore Wen Si said she feels differently about the vaccine and its drawbacks.
"I was considering getting it, but I've heard it can make you feel sick," Si said. "Since I had an exam the next day, I didn't want to risk not feeling well [that] night when I had to study or the next day during the test."
For over 25 years, Tufts has offered optional flu shots as part of the mandated $620 health services fee, which also includes unlimited primary and urgent care visits, access to the counseling center, allergy and immunization injections and a student's first three psychiatric visits.
The flu clinics are something Health Service Clinic Manager Kathleen O'Dea takes great pride in.
"It's particularly important for college students to get vaccinated because they're at a higher risk because of their living conditions," she said. "The close quarters make students more likely to get sick."
O'Dea doesn't feel that the ineffectiveness of last year's vaccine will deter any students from coming back this season for the flu shot.
"We've already had students calling up for the past month to find out when the clinics are being held," she said.
Attendees of the clinics on Tuesday and Wednesday spanned a range of grades, everyone from freshmen to graduate students.
Sophomore Laura Glassman was motivated by memories of her close friend who fell ill with the flu last winter.
"I remember taking care of her and seeing how hard it was for her to catch up after missing so much school," Glassman said. "I definitely don't want to get sick like that."
Senior Emily Freedman doesn't always get the vaccine, but felt that the nature of being a student in the collegiate environment was reason enough for getting the shot this year.
"It seems like it's really easy to get sick in college, so I wanted to protect myself in every way possible," Freedman said.
Most students don't seem to be taking any risks this year: Over 1,200 were already vaccinated this week — and more had intentions of attending but were limited by time constraints.
"Tuesdays and Wednesdays are really hectic days for me," sophomore Emma Van Der Weerd said. "I just didn't have time to make it to health services."
For students like Van Der Weerd who could not get a vaccination, a clinic will be held next Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
