{"id":38496,"date":"2017-10-24T09:41:23","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T15:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=38496"},"modified":"2017-11-05T10:18:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-05T17:18:00","slug":"flu-shots-now-available-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2017\/10\/24\/flu-shots-now-available-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu shots now available on campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/span>lberta Health Services influenza immunization started Oct. 23, at the SAIT Health Clinic and across the city.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>[Students] should ask [themselves] can I really afford to miss school with influenza,\u201d said Dr. Judy MacDonald, the medical officer of health for the Calgary zone.<\/p>\n

Students who want to get the shot can call 403-284-8666 weekdays, or drop in to the clinic, on the ground floor of the R Wing, Senator Burns Building, and make an appointment.<\/p>\n

If students want to get the flu shot off campus, there will be a clinic open at Brentwood Village Mall beside the Safeway in northwest Calgary.<\/p>\n

All Albertans over the age of six months old can get their flu shots for free with a valid Alberta Health Care Card.<\/p>\n

The vaccine will also be available at some pharmacies.<\/p>\n

Dr. Vivian Cheng is one of the newest doctors at the SAIT Health Clinic and encourages students to get the shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most preventable [illnesses],\u201d said Cheng.<\/p>\n

Most people who get the flu will shake it, however in some cases the bug can lead to hospitalization and even death, said Cheng<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who have never been immunized against influenza perhaps don\u2019t understand how serious it can be,\u201d said MacDonald.<\/p>\n

In 2016-17, there were 19 deaths in Calgary and 64 in Alberta from people who tested positive for influenza.<\/p>\n

Additionally 1,698 people who were hospitalized tested positive for influenza.<\/p>\n

MacDonald urges people and especially students to get immunized because it is a big population and students are always in close contact with one another, and thus are highly vulnerable to the bug.<\/p>\n

The more people who get their flu shot, the more people are protected by herd immunity.<\/p>\n

If a large enough group of people get immunized then it makes it harder for influenza to continue in that community, said MacDonald.<\/p>\n

Additionally people who cannot get the flu shot will also be protected, said Cheng.<\/p>\n

However, last year only 27 per cent of Albertans got their flu shot, so \u201cyou may not want to count on other people getting immunized,\u201d said MacDonald.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no chance you will get the flu from the flu vaccine, it\u2019s not designed like that,\u201d said Cheng.<\/p>\n

While there can be a slight reaction to the shot in some people, these symptoms are also a lot less serious than actually getting the flu.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel like you\u2019ve been run over with a truck,\u201d said MacDonald.<\/p>\n

Even for a healthy person, the flu will last 3 to 5 days or longer with headaches, fever, muscle aches and a cough that can persist, said MacDonald.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that you still feel bad, because you are exhausted and you\u2019ve got this cough that lasts several weeks,\u201d said MacDonald,<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you\u2019d like to have that, versus getting an influenza vaccine, I guess go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SAIT clinic is in room NR0421, in Burns. Clinic immunization hours are 9 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. weekdays.<\/p>\n

The Brentwood Mall Clinic and a clinic in Northgate will be open from 11 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9:30 a.m.to 5:15 p.m. on Saturdays.<\/p>\n

Visit albertahealthservices.ca<\/a> to see all clinics and hours for the flu vaccine.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dr. Vivian Cheng is new doctor at SAIT Health Clinic but learned a lot about flu shots at the University of British Columbia (Photo by Ashley Speirs\/SAIT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flu season is starting soon and Alberta Health Services starts their immunization campaign Oct. 23. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":411,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"Influenza vaccine","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1109,1106],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-image","6":"category-life","7":"category-mental-health","8":"category-physical-health-and-wellness","9":"post_format-post-format-image"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/411"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38496"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39274,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38496\/revisions\/39274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}