IU faces peak time for flu bug

Flu season is in full swing around the country, and IU is no exception. Many students and faculty have suffered through days or even weeks of sore throats, headaches, fevers and horrible coughing.\n"We are really swamped here right now," said Anne Reese, director of Health and Wellness Education at the IU Health Center. "We do see a lot of respiratory illness. The peak season for the flu is January and February."\nOne of the Health Center's main concerns is how quickly the flu spreads, Reese said. \n"The problem is the flu is very contagious," she said. "If one person gets it, others will too."\nSophomore Jessica Nation said she has seen the flu quickly make its way around campus.\n"It's everywhere," she said. "It's like a chain reaction."\nNation is just one of a number of women in Zeta Tau Alpha that have recently been sick. \n"In my house I would say that out of 100 girls living here, probably close to 30 girls have either been sick before or are feeling sick now," she said. "My entire floor is sick."\nOther students have also been feeling ill recently but have had a hard time deciding whether they have the flu or just a cold. \n"I thought I had a cold," junior Anisa Dema said. "Then I started coughing a lot and woke up one morning feeling extremely sick."\nThere are a number of different symptoms that occur only with the flu and not a cold, Reese said. These symptoms include high fever, extreme fatigue and headaches. \nStudents can also judge whether or not they have the flu by looking at how much they are able to do. "If you have a bad cold or cough, you feel lousy but you can still get up and do the stuff you need to do," Reese said. "Influenza is more debilitating and more severe. When you have influenza, you really are in bed for a couple of days."\nFreshman Thea Mosher, a resident of Collins Living-Learning Center, said she can tell the difference between a cold and the flu from her personal experience in the last couple days. \n"It should be taken more seriously than a cold," she said. "Seriously, I don't want to do anything like go to class. I can't even think."\nDema said she believes the flu is a bigger problem than many people make it out to be. \n"It doesn't last long," she said. "But when you have it, it controls your life." \nGreek houses and dorms seem to be a prime way for the virus to travel. The IU Health Center's Web site advises students whose lifestyle places them in close contact with others to get a flu shot. This includes students living in residence halls, Greek houses and others living in group settings.\nAs of Thursday, only 4,200 shots have been given to faculty and students. \n"I am invincible and I didn't think I'd get sick," Dema said with a half laugh, half cough. "You don't think about that stuff until you actually get sick." \nMany students aren't sick when shots are usually given and don't think ahead to the coming winter. \n"When shots become available, it's fall, it's nice out, and people aren't sick," Reese said.\nSome people don't understand that the shot itself won't get them sick, Reese said. \n"A lot of people have the misconception that you can get the flu from the flu shot," she said.\nDespite the fact that it is currently peak flu season, shots are still available to students and faculty. \n"Flu shots are still beneficial," Reese said. "It takes a couple of weeks for them to be fully effective, but we have all of February left to go." \nReese also advises students who are already sick to go to the Health Center. \n"Antiviral medicines are available and although they won't get rid of the virus, they can reduce the symptoms," she said. \nOther than getting a shot, Reese recommends getting a lot of sleep, avoiding stress and washing hands vigorously. \n"These bugs are around us all the time and if your immune system works for you, you should be fine," she said. "If your immune system is exhausted, that puts you at a higher risk."\nIf students take the proper precautions, they do not have to suffer through the flu. \n"It's something we can prevent," Reese said.