'Hédlth"'Ceﬂ'tér shots ques

by Terry Won
In recent years, students with
‘ tvcak stomachs have been by.
passing the needlecwiclding nurses
at registration and it now appears
that there are some sound medical
reasons lor foregoing the ﬂu shot.
Dr. David Ferguson told the 5&3
this week that possible side effects
and the possible ineffectiveness of
the flu vaccine against the newest
strains of flu viruses lead him to
believe that, for college students
anyway, the shots may not be
“necessary.
”If I was a student, I wouldn’t
take it," Ferguson said.

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As a medical student at the
University oi lowa in the mid-
sixties, Ferguson was given flu
shots and became quite sick tor
two or three days. Since then, the
vaccines have been improved and
the incidence and severity of
reactions to the drug reduced, but
“you can get sick from the shot,”
Ferguson said.

Reactions

Fluogen is the name of the
vaccine being used by the Health
Center this year, and the
manufacturer, Parke, Davis & (30.,
lists the following adverse reaCr
lions:

“Most frequent reaction was , . .
tenderness at the site oi injection.
Headache and malaise were
reported in up to about 12 per cent
of subjects, Nausea and fever
occurred in approximately 5 per
cent of the patients, Muscle ache,
joint pain, chills, fatigue, and
anorexia occurred in less than 5
per cent of the subjects."

It Ferguson's argument was only
a case oi the cure being worse than
the disease, come students might
argue that the possibility of side
effects from the shot early in the
semester may be preferable to the
chance, however slim, of becoming
physically and mentally
debilitated for two or three days
during the heart oi the semester.

No Guarantee

But Ferguson added that there is
no guarantee that the ﬂu vaccine
will offer protection against the
virus which becomes prevalent.
The contents of vaccines are set by
the Food and Drug Administration
and are periodically revised to
include strains of recent viruses,
but there is about a year’s lag in
updating the vaccine, Ferguson
reported.

Close living arrangements are
one reason for inoculating against
a contagious disease like inﬂuenza,
but Ferguson suggested that ii an
epidemic developed, it would be
likely to involve a strain of virus
not covered in the ﬂu shot,

By his own admission, Ferguson
is a conservative doctor He told
the 5&3 he “would rather err on
the side of not sticking Someone if
it doesn’t interfere with the
patient's health.”

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Ferguson does administer the
shot to the elderly and to patients
with illnesses likely to be
aggravated by an attack of in
ﬂuenza. Persons in these
categories run the risk of death if
they contract the virus and
Ferguson Said that even if there
were only a in per cent chance at
preventing influenza with the shot.

he would consider the side effects
or the shot outweighed by the
potential prevention of a more
serious illness in these patients.

For a young, normally healthy
college student, however, the etc
fects of influenza are not likely to
be so serious. Ferguson said that in
most cases, it takes two or three
days to iully recover {rpm the
illness and the patient then has a
strong, natural immunity to
subsequent infection,

Ferguson tells his patients that
he doesn’t take the shot and his
family doesn’t take the shot. “If
nobody at the college took the
shot,” he said, “it wouldn‘t hurt
my feelings." so far this year, 420
students, about onethird of those
enrolled, have been vaccinated.

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If the college medical adviser is
so lukewarm about the shots, why
does the college continue to oiier
them'.’

When he succeeded Dr, Parish
as medical adviser to the college,
Ferguson said. it was college
policy to oiier the shots, Although
he does not advocate ﬂu shots for
students, Ferguson said, the shots
pose no serious danger and he is
content to leave the procedure as it
is so that Students who want the
shot don’t have to incur the ins
convenience and expense of going
downtown to see a doctor.

Because the Health Center buys
the vaccine in large quantity, it can
provide the service at a moderate
cost, The vaccine and individual
syringe run about $125, not in-
cluding nurses' time spent in
preparing and administering the
shots. The cost of the program is
included in the $45 yearly health
fee.

Mrsr Irma Hall, R.N., ad-
ministrative supervisor or the
Health Center, is glad Ferguson
has not chosen to veto the shots
program. “Who knows how many
cases of influenza have been
prevented by the shots?" Mrs, Hall
told the 5&3.

Freshmen in particular need the
flu shot, Mrs. Hall said, because,
more often than others, they don't
get enough sleep, eat properly, or
take care oi themselves. Reports or
side effects are exaggerated, she
said, and upperclassmen may be
dissuading ireshmen lrom taking
what she believes is a useful
prevention measure.

Sniffles
The rash oi sniines and colds at
this time oi year, Mrs. Hall said, is
attributable to students bringing in
bugs horn all over the country. in

her opinion, “it has absolutely
nothing to do with the ilu vaccine.”

The symptoms of inﬂuenza are
lever, headache, muscular ache,
and-or respiratory problems, but
the existence of the disease can
only be coniirmed by a blood test.
Vomiting and nausea are more
commonly associated with gastro-
intestinal ailments,

Shots Still Available

For those students who have not
taken the shot. Mrs. Hall suggests
proper rest and diet and avoiding
persons who contract the virus, Flu
shots are still available to students
at the Health Center and a
program offering the shots to
faculty and all stall will be an
nounced when the BSLG strike is
settled, .

For all of us, though, the question
remains: Do the shots have any
influenza?

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