Miamians Not Immune to Very Bad Flu Season

BY NATHAN CALEM
Miami University journalism student

This year’s flu season has been the most intense ever for doctors and nurses, said local nurse Cynthia Traficant. The student health center has diagnosed more than 100 students with influenza A or B.

And it isn’t over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers May the end of the season. Dozens of people in the southwest region of Ohio were hospitalized with the flu in March.

Junior Harrison Domeshek recently contracted the flu during his spring break. “Miami’s campus is so big and there are thousands of students walking around,” he said. “I’m surprised I didn’t get it earlier.”

Universities and schools are places where the virus spreads easily, with students walking between classes and coming in contact with many others every day.

Illness from influenza can be truly incapacitating. “Imagine spending your spring break sitting in bed all day,” Domeshek said.

Traficant, who works at TriHealth, said this year’s flu strains are aggressive and that the risk of exposure has been high. The virus is “air hungry and can spiral very quickly person to person,” she said.

The antigen is transmitted through human contact and lingers on hard surfaces. Traficant said door handles and shared surfaces such as computer keyboards can host the virus. It also spreads by droplet when sneezing or in other airborne particles.

Miami students are at risk due to the number of people they interact with every day, she said.

At the student health center, rapid tests can almost instantly determine the type of flu a patient has contracted. If a student appears with symptoms, health center personnel will always administer the test, which also identifies which strain has been contracted, Traficant said.

In efforts to curb the spread of the flu, the health center has met with every department on campus to raise awareness among faculty and staff on the seriousness of the disease.

The response to the high rates of flu included requests for “vigilant cleaning in all dining halls, classrooms, and restrooms.” Traficant has encouraged all supervisors to push hand washing with soap and water. She describes their strategy as an “all-hands-on-deck mentality.”

“We are trying really hard to keep everyone on campus healthy and as safe as possible,” she said. The health center employs extra workers during flu season to handle the increased volume of patients.

Traficant has visited departments across campus to raise awareness of the many antigens that can affect students and employees. Although she feels good about Miami’s “proactive approach,” it’s not yet time to quit for the season.

“We strive to do better every year, and as a university, we need to do more to be better,” she said. “The flu is still ahead of us, but we can better prepare our students by creating awareness.”

Traficant talked with 6,000 first-year students who were rushing a sorority or fraternity about strategies for avoiding contact with the virus.

Vaccines are an important component of prevention, but limited in their effectiveness. In September and October, scientists and doctors tested the most common strains of the influenza virus in hopes of pinpointing a vaccine.

Hospitals get vaccines as soon as they are released and delivered to hospitals across the world. Doctors and scientists play a hit-or-miss game in efforts to determine what strains are in the flu.

Miami’s campus-dwelling population remains at risk for the spread of influenza, meaning students should still be taking precautions. For flu victims, there is also the matter of coping with symptoms. The health center is still fighting the disease, but Traficant said that overall the center’s awareness campaigns have helped curb the spread of the flu.

Top photo: Miami students work at Armstrong Student Center. The flu virus can linger on hard surfaces such as computer keyboards and table tops. -- Photo by Scott Kissell.