Cowell Battles to Meet Vaccine Demands

By Mallory Miller

Forget Zumba. The big health craze at Santa Clara this year is the flu vaccination.

The Cowell Student Health Center has administered 271 vaccinations so far this year, three times the amount given out last year. They've been in such high demand that sometimes Cowell can't even keep a full stock for a day.

"At one point, Cowell received a shipment of 50 vaccinations," said staff physician, Dr. Lauren Hidalgo. "Two hours later we ran out because so many students rushed in to get the shot. But now we are currently stocked with more vaccinations."

Cowell wasn't the only center to run out of vaccines. Local pharmacies ran out of stock this year as well. In fact, numbers from the Center for Disease Control show that the western region of the United States are still seeing widespread flu cases.

Students that live in dorms are especially at risk for the flu due to the tight living quarters. Students who go to class sick also risk exposing classmates to the virus, although the fast-paced quarter system can make it difficult to miss class.

 "I just got over the flu about a week ago," said freshman Connor Yim. "I still went to class when I had it though because I didn't want to miss lectures and get counted absent by my professors."

Students who are not feeling well, especially those with fever, should not be attending class and exposing healthy students to the virus, according to experts.

"This requires cooperation and understanding from professor and administrators," said Hidalgo. "If students don't go to class sick, it would be really helpful in preventing the spread of the virus."

Every year, anywhere between five and 20 percent of people living in the U.S. will get the influenza virus. This year the flu has been spreading more quickly, about five weeks ahead of the average season.

Contact Mallory Miller at memiller@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.