By Nicole Park
Daily Titan Staff Writer

In response to the 32 lives claimed by the H1N1 influenza pandemic in Orange County alone, Cal State Fullerton ordered 10,000 “swine flu” shots for the Student Health and Counseling Center. The immunizations will be provided to students, free of charge, at a shot clinic on campus in conjunction with the nursing department.

100 of the 10,000 immunizations arrived last week and were administered to those on the “top tier” of campus priority, said Mary Hermann, director of Health, Education and Promotion.

“We had to vaccinate our entire medical personnel first. If we all get sick, there would be no one here to treat students,” Hermann said.

CSUF police were the next highest priority because, “We need our first responders,” Hermann said.

Because of the national shortage of the vaccine, only 1 percent of the order placed by CSUF was filled.

Hermann said the SHCC hopes to receive another shipment from Orange County within weeks and said a shot clinic could be arranged in days.

“If the shots arrived on a Tuesday, we could possibly be ready to immunize students by Thursday,” Hermann said.

The date of delivery and the size of the boxes received will determine when the free clinic will take place and how many students can be served.

“We’re only able to give based on what we receive, so we will accommodate the CDC’s (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommended priority population first,” Hermann said.

The first group the director named was students with underlying health problems. She said these were pre-existing conditions that have the potential to complicate the H1N1 flu and included asthma, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

Student-parents are another high-need group. Caretakers of children under 6 months old or younger and pregnant women are at high risk for contracting H1N1, according to CDC.

“If you’ve seen on the news, a lot of the ones dying from this flu are young children, so it’s important our little guys don’t get it,” Hermann said.

Lastly, she said first-priority immunizations will be given to all students living on campus because of the heightened risk living in close quarters with so many others.

After those who fall in one of the higher-risk categories are inoculated, the remaining supply of H1N1 vaccines will be made available to any student on campus.

The immunizations will be provided with no fee, courtesy of the federal government, and administered free by students enrolled in the nursing department at CSUF, according to Hermann.

“Student nurses will administer the vaccines, but an MD (medical doctor) will be there supervising and students receiving the vaccines will know that another student is giving them the shot and they will sign a waiver,” Hermann said.

Hermann said the SHCC did not want to shut its doors to students for more days than the furloughs already demanded. If the shot clinic were to be provided by health center staff in the facility, no other appointments could be accommodated. Instead, the clinic will likely be held in the Titan Student Union Pavilions.

“This is a collaboration that will help everyone involved,” Hermann said.

Department of Nursing Chair Cindy Greenberg wants students to know that “individuals who are administering the vaccines are familiar with the procedures and have done this before.”

“This isn’t an experiment; this isn’t the first time the students are giving vaccines,” Greenberg said of the student nurses who will participate in the on-campus clinic.

Greenberg said students can trust the immunizations from fellow students like any other shot.

“We have students who help with immunization clinics for the seasonal flu every year and 21 who are going to a flu clinic today,” Greenberg said.

Hermann urges students to seek inoculation to prevent illness while the seasonal flu “truly is seasonal and has a clear window between the months of November and February,” she said. “H1N1 threw everyone for a loop,” when it hit the United States in April and continued through the summer season.

“I personally won’t be taking any free swine flu shot due to the fact that it is a new vaccine which has not been studied well enough. I met someone who got the shot and ended up in the hospital with bronchitis. Maybe she just had a weak immune system, but I’d rather just not take any shots,” said Grace Lopez, 22, a sociology major.

Hermann insists that the strain is much like the seasonal one and said the immunizations are made the same, with a deactivated virus.

“The virus is deactivated, so you cannot get sick from it like many people think … The deactivated virus allows the immune system to recognize it and create the antibodies against it,” Hermann said to those hesitant to get the shot.

Other students are accepting the shot like any other.

“I’m not really scared of the swine flu, but I got the normal shot last year. Sure I’d take the shot if it were free. It’s just an extra precaution this year,” said Linda Nguyen, 25, an Asian American Studies major.

According to Hermann and the CDC, 99 percent of flu cases in the U.S. are of the H1N1 virus.

Hermann said they have just quit testing due to the overwhelming probability.

Because both the symptoms and treatment of the flu, of the seasonal or swine variety, are nearly identical, Hermann suggests that students implement the usual home remedies and not visit their doctor.

“If you have a healthy immune system like most people, it will fight this flu like any other. We’re telling students, for the first time, don’t go to school. We’re pleading with them to not go to class where they will just get others sick,” Hermann said.

She said the same principle applies at the health center.

“Don’t go to your doctor unless you have some underlying problem that needs attention,” Hermann said.

The only treatment is rest, clear fluids and over-the-counter fever reducers.

“Do not return to school until your fever has been gone for a full 24 hours. If you were sick for seven days, you should be out of school for eight,” Hermann said.