Jorge Gomez was on vacation in late December when he caught the flu. Gomez, a UF biology lab manager, wasn’t the only one.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this flu season has seen at least 15 million illnesses, 140,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths caused by the flu. Additionally, the CDC reported that as of Jan. 11, 48 states and one U.S. territory have reported widespread influenza activity.
Gomez said that he contracted the flu during the last week of December, and it lasted through the beginning of January. He and his family were camping in the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia when they started experiencing severe symptoms.
He said that during their trip, he and his family members, including his 8-year-old daughter, had stomachaches, headaches and fevers reaching 102 degrees. This flu experience was the worst one that he could recall.
“Based on the timing and the incubation period, we actually probably got it here in Florida and brought it with us over there,” Gomez said.
Due to the timing of the illness, he did not fall behind on work and said he only missed two days during syllabus week. However, he is concerned for his students who may catch the flu later in the semester and how it will impact them.
“We have maybe 2,000 students in and out of the labs each day,” he said. “They come from all over the world and can bring whatever they may have had with them.”
Cisco Marcano, a 23-year-old UF history senior, also caught the flu at about the same time as Gomez.
“I didn’t want to see anyone or hear from anyone,” Marcano said. “I didn’t leave the house unless it was to work out and try to sweat it out.”
Marcano also said that he had similar symptoms to that of Gomez and was taking several flu and allergy medications.
While Marcano was not sick during the middle of the semester or during an exam week, he said that it has happened to him in the past and caused him to worry about his grades.
“You really don’t want to do anything, including studying,” he said. “All you are worried about is feeling better, and you can’t worry about your studies.”
Although there may appear to be signs of an epidemic nationwide, the severity of the outbreak on campus is unknown, said Cecilia Luna, a spokeswoman from the UF Student Health Care Center.
“We really have no way of knowing just how many people have the flu or have had the flu on campus,” she said.
Luna said one of the reasons why the healthcare center is unsure about the flu’s impact is because not every student is treated on campus.
While Luna and other staff at the health care center are always concerned about flu season, she said that each season is unpredictable for a variety of reasons.
“Some years it will be the A strand, and the next it could be the B strand,” she said. “There is no way of knowing what strand will occur next season.”
Luna said there are multiple ways to be prepared and to fight it off. Getting enough sleep, maintaining a healthy diet and staying away from people you know are sick are some basic steps to take.
“The best advice I can give to students is to get vaccinated,” she said. “It is not too late into the flu season to get one, and they are covered by most students’ insurance.”
She also said that the vaccine offers several benefits, including protection from the flu and the weakening of severe symptoms. If a student’s insurance does not cover the shot, she said that the care center will cover the cost for them. Vaccine shots are available at the care center’s main building next to the Florida Gym.
