Cases of flu begin to appear at RPI

Over the past two and a half weeks, influenza has crept onto the RPI campus. In that time, a dozen cases of the flu have been diagnosed, according to Dr. Leslie Lawrence of the Health Center.

Although the number is relatively small, it is because it does not include those students who have not been seen and those who were sick over spring break. Lawrence remarked, “The number of students who have had the flu is probably about three times as many as we’ve seen. But we’ve only had a small outbreak, really, and not anything of epidemic proportions.”

Although the flu is generally seen in January and early February, this year’s strain has seemed to hit RPI rather late, occurring mainly in the weeks surrounding spring break. Most of the students that have been seen by the Health Center had not received a flu shot.

“The strain this year should fall under the flu shot that was given, and the immunity from the shot probably hasn’t worn off. The cases we’ve seen are mainly due to the fact that the students did not get shots,” said Lawrence.

The Student Health Center is requesting that students who think they have the flu not attend classes. This allows students to have time to recuperate and also it means they will not expose other students to the flu when it isn’t necessary. “When you feel really sick, you can’t get off the couch and you need your rest. So, you can’t really do your best work anyway, and by staying home, we keep it from becoming an epidemic on the campus.”

The Health Center still has flu shots available, if students who have not received one yet would like to. There are also anti-viral medications that students can get if they have been exposed to the flu in the past few days and are worried about catching it.

Dr. Lawrence suggests that the best thing students can do to keep from catching the flu is to wash their hands and to refrain from sharing drinks. Lawrence said, “We’ve found the flu passes through the campus like most colds do, and so by washing your hands you lower your risk of catching the flu dramatically.”