The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Jan. 11 that the 2012-2013 cases of the flu have reached epidemic proportions.

With the peak of flu season not until late January, students of Lakeland College are urged to take extra precautions.

With flu cases reported as early as October, the CDC said this was the earliest flu season in a decade. Outbreaks of the flu in Wis., as of Jan. 5, are considered widespread or occurring in areas representing over 50 percent of the state’s population.

Rachael Cabral-Guevara, family nurse practitioner-board certified and temporary nurse practitioner for Lakeland College, has been working overtime at her practice in Green Bay seeing as many as 40 patients with flu-like symptoms within a single week.

“The campus has been really lucky,” said Cabral-Guevara. “It’s amazing no one has gotten sick. [It means] you’re doing something right.”

The campus health center has had no reportable cases of the flu for this season.

Sherry Carstens, registered nurse for the Lakeland Health Clinic, said, “The flu season hasn’t reached its peak. I won’t be surprised if we see things within the new few weeks.”

In the county, Dale Hippensteel, Health Officer for Sheboygan Health Department, has on record 21 people hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

For the state, Claire Smith of Wisconsin Department of Health Services has confirmed 4,249 cases of influenza.

In comparison to last year’s flu season, the number has nearly doubled. Wisconsin has had one pediatric and four adult deaths.

Numbers may not be entirely accurate due to a lack of testing. Most clinics, including Lakeland’s, will not test for the flu. A diagnosis is often based off of symptoms presented. Testing for the flu is expensive, and most times the results are positive.

Those who have not received the flu shot are encouraged to get one as a precautionary measure.

This year’s flu vaccine includes the three types of flu: H3N2, H1N1, and Influenza B. H3N2 is the most common and most likely to cause complications.

Micheal Jhung of the CDC states, “Flu viruses change all the time. They change in big ways, which gives them a different H and N designation, and they change in small ways.

So last year’s H3N2 can be a little bit different from this year’s H3N2 virus. If you’ve been exposed to a similar virus, you’ll have some protection, but not full protection.”

Lakeland students should be aware the vaccination will not protect them from all the flu strains. Each flu season, the CDC tries to match identified strains and guess how the flu will mutate. All flu strains, however, have similar symptoms.

Though anti-viral medications are available, such as Tamiflu, overuse of anti-viral medications has lead to anti-viral resistant viruses, just as overuse of antibiotics has lead to antibiotic resistant bacteria. Students should be reminded the flu is caused by a virus; therefore, antibiotics will not help them.

Only those at high risk for flu complications, like children under two and the elderly, are recommended to receive anti-viral medication.

Additionally, the medications are only effective if taken within the first two days of symptoms.

Cabral-Guevera warns students that there are two types of flu spreading rapidly: a respiratory and a gastrointestinal. Students could pick up the virus off campus and need to be aware of the symptoms due to the highly contagious nature of the virus.

Respiratory symptoms include a high temperature, nausea, a sore throat, and a lot of clear nasal drainage, resulting in the usage of at least half a Kleenex box daily.

After about three to four days, the symptoms will disappear as the virus moves into the chest and causes coughing and shortness of breath lasting approximately a week and a half.

The gastrointestinal flu will last about one week. Symptoms include a low grade fever followed by vomiting and diarrhea.

Cabral-Guevera stresses the importance of staying hydrated by drinking lots of fluids. Sport drinks such as Gatorade could be beneficial to replacing the loss of electrolytes during the flu.

“The biggest thing for prevention is good hand washing,” said Cabral-Guevera. “It is a strong virus and spreads quickly.”

Other precautions students can take are avoiding close contact with individuals and wear a mask if coughing. A person coughing or with a fever is contagious and can spread the flu.

Any student coming down with flu-like symptoms and concerned can call the Health Center at (920) 565-1523 to schedule an appointment at the Health Center located in Student Services in Brotz Hall.

Sherry Carstens is available Monday–Friday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Rachael Cabral-Guevara will be available on Wednesdays from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.