To the Editor:
When publishing an article about influenza vaccination on campus, does The Herald go out of its way to include misinformed student comments? Of course not, but such comments appearing in a recent article ("1,700 students receive free on-campus flu vaccines," Oct. 27) suggest something even more troubling — that misinformation about flu vaccines, coupled with apathy, has resulted in over two-thirds of the undergraduate student body not taking advantage of a free, reasonably convenient and highly effective option to protect their health. Let me address these comments with some basic facts.
"I don't like the idea of not knowing what they are putting into my body. I'm against it."
Flu vaccines come in two basic forms — the kind you inject in your arm and the kind you inhale up your nose. Each contains the same three carefully chosen types of flu virus that have been killed (the injectable form) or are live but not able to cause disease (the inhaled form). Because the viruses are grown in chicken eggs, there may be a bit of egg protein remaining, and this is why they ask you if you're allergic to eggs before you get the vaccine. In some injectable vaccines there is also a small amount of preservative intended to keep the vaccine sterile, and if this is a concern you can get the inhaled vaccine which contains no preservative at all. And that's pretty much it — I'll bet that you know less about what they put into those ever-popular chicken fingers!
"I've been told that sometimes if you get the flu shot, there are repercussions of getting flu symptoms. I don't have time to be sick."
The most common side effect of getting an injectable flu shot is a slightly sore arm for about a day. Less than one in 100 persons getting either type of vaccine may experience mild symptoms like a slight fever for about a day, but you cannot get the flu from a flu shot. Real flu has a good chance of wiping you out for a week with high fever, muscle pain, coughing and headaches — have you got time for that?
"I was going to do it but I just totally forgot."
Despite all the e-mails and Morning Mail announcements, this suggests that we — all of us at Brown — aren't doing as much as we should to get the word out. As students, you can apply some positive peer pressure to your friends. As faculty, we could be more vocal about the benefits of the vaccine and make sure to set a good example by getting the shot ourselves. Campus administration could try some creative incentives aimed at increasing participation — getting back to those famous chicken fingers, might I suggest increasing each student's allotment on Fridays if a certain level of vaccination is achieved? Or perhaps a "Brown is Flu-Free" T-shirt with every shot? The possibilities are endless!
In short, flu vaccines are safe, effective and free. They shouldn't be less popular than chicken fingers.
Richard Bungiro
Lecturer in Biology
Oct. 27
