Herd Immunity

I'm recovering swiftly from my head cold (Advil and a tipple of whiskey: too bad I can't patent that). Typical rhino virus, probably. Thank goodness it wasn't flu or, dog forbid, the dreaded norovirus.

Germs are everywhere on campus. I know that makes me sound like some crazy Chicken Little but consider: I use computers in the library often; then there's door handles to buildings, classrooms, restrooms; and coffee cups or dropped pens handed to you by someone else; and the list is pretty much endless. I wash my hands often, and always after using the library computers, but sometimes that just isn't enough.

Biochemistry, which I'm taking this quarter, is one of the largest undergraduate classes at OSU with around 400 registrants. The largest class is the second term of biochem with well over 400 (numbers probably swollen by those trying to improve their poor grades from their first attempt).

Close your eyes and imagine 400 people crammed into an overheated auditorium, seats still warm from some other large class that vacated them minutes before. People are sneezing, coughing, laughing, spraying germs willy-nilly. Hand washing is hardly going to help in this situation.

I did my part for herd immunity today and got my flu shot at a clinic offered by student health services. I'm a delicate flower, bruise like a damned peach when poked with a needle, even the tiny ones they use for the flu vax. My arm is sore and I'm sure I'll feel like shit this weekend. But I'd rather suffer mildly now than suffer horribly later.

The clinic was for all university folks: staff, students, faculty. The woman who took my info form looked at me, made a judgement about my status based on my age which she inferred from my appearance, and only after looking at my form and seeing the student ID, not the faculty insurance info, said in surprise, "oh, you're a student!" This has happened nearly every time I have had to claim a "student benefit". I'm okay with being a regular challenge to people's preconceptions but it does make me feel a bit old.

The flu vax clinic was packed, and the nurse who jabbed me told me it had been nonstop since they started up at 10 am this morning (I went in near the end of the day). They are offering a second one in a couple of weeks. One of the student health center employees was out on the student union quad dressed in a giant syringe costume (yeah, it was as weird as you think). They even offered me candy and a "I got a flu shot" sticker as I was leaving (I eschewed the former, took the latter). They are certainly doing their part to attract as many students as possible (faculty and staff are likely to be much more compliant since their health insurance plans cover the cost of the shot; I had to pay $15, or rather, had $15 put on my OSU account which I'll have to pay at the end of the quarter). The syringe guy did have to compete for attention with the lube-tasting event also taking place on the quad (yeah, that kind of lube; I'm all for open discussions about safe sex on a college campus).

Let's hear it for herd immunity.