With the travel season upon us, millions of people will be traveling to spend time with friends and family. During high travel times, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, modes of transportation, such as buses and airplanes, will be crawling not only with people hustling to get to their loved ones, but with millions of bacteria and viruses itching to ruin your holidays.

This travel season could potentially be the most severe and harmful in terms of picking up a sickness with the H1N1 virus spreading like wildfire in the U.S.

The swine flu has infected an estimated 22 million Americans, hospitalized about 98,000 and killed more than 4,000 since it first hit the U.S. in April, according to a recent report. With people traveling all around the country, the holiday season will most likely show a spike in the number of cases of the virus.

In 2003, one passenger on a flight from Hong Kong to Beijing infected 22 other people on the plane with Severe Acute Respiratory Virus (SARS), a respiratory disease in humans that reached a near pandemic between November 2002 and July 2003. Five of the infected passengers died as a result.

Passengers on airplanes are particularly susceptible to picking up illnesses because the ventilation systems in airplanes recirculate air.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recently started a new campaign called the Travelers’ Health Campaign featuring themes including “Prevention can be Travel-Sized” and “Stop, Wash and Go.”

The CDC reiterates health tips that we’ve heard from our mothers countless times, including traveling only when feeling well, getting vaccinated for the flu, washing hands often and covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue.

While these tips might seem redundant, small efforts such as these could up your chances of avoiding the flu this season.

Graphic by Kevin Black

Over 90 percent of flu cases have been reported as H1N1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this number could possibly be as high as 99 percent of cases. With these numbers many facilities are no longer been testing specifically for H1N1 but are assuming and providing treatment for it. The Health Center does not have any totals of individuals infected for this reason. Students watch their peers become sick and await the arrival of the vaccine.

However, there are steps that must be taken before students can receive the vaccine. This begins with obtaining the necessary funding for production.

The Obama administration and Congress have allotted nearly $10 billion for the H1N1 vaccinations. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site federal funding is for the purchase of the H1N1 vaccine and the states are receiving funding for vaccination efforts from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

After funding was provided the vaccine was developed by five companies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services listed CSL Biotherapies, MedImmune, Novartis, sanofi Pasteur and GlaxoSmithKline as the companies. GlaxoSmithKline was the only company who failed to receive approval from the FDA.

Once the developers have the vaccine approved it must be distributed to the nation depending on supply and demand.

Michelle Shoresman, Emergency Preparedness Program Manager from the Health Department, said the San Luis Obispo County Health Department began receiving early shipments of the vaccine in the beginning of October. These were small amounts of the vaccine, which were given to a few pediatricians. They received the first installments of their orders, as they are at the top of the priority list.

“We are hoping to receive around 40,000 doses around the end of October,” Shoresman said. According to the U.S. Census Bureau as of 2008 there were 265,297 people in San Luis Obispo County. “We are at the whim of distribution process for receiving the vaccination.”

Although there are two types of the vaccine being offered the Health Center will only receive the type delivered by injection. The injection contains a dead strain of the virus and is said to be slightly more effective. However, for pregnant women, children between six months and two years and adults over 49 must receive the vaccination through a shot. One shot will be sufficient for all except children between six months and two years.

The people who have received the vaccine already have not shown adverse reactions that can be isolated and concluded to be a result of the vaccine.

However, due to the pressing issue the clinical trials for H1N1 were done on thousands of people. Rare side effects might not have shown up in the population tested.

Shari Roan of HealthandSurvival.com brings up the pandemics of the decade and how they relate to our current situation. This reminds some of the swine flu scare of 1976 when days after the vaccine was released it was found to increase the risk of a rare neurological condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

This is when the immune system attacks the nervous system and can cause temporary paralysis and can be fatal. Ever since the resulting deaths resulting people have become leery of vaccines. Roan also said that about 500 people developed the syndrome and 25 of them died.

This was shown recently in comments. Talk show host Bill Maher wrote on Twitter that anyone who received the vaccine were “idiots.” He also said he “did not believe that healthy people were vulnerable to dying from the new H1N1 virus.”

Linda Bergthold of the Huffington Post said, “Maher said he didn’t think pregnant women needed to get the vaccine. He is WRONG. Lives could be lost over this unscientific “opinion” of Bill Maher.”

His statement also contradicts the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s release, which said people between the ages of five and 24 are “particularly vulnerable” to the flu.

College students are within the top five at risk populations and will receive dosages before people who are not in this list.

The Cal Poly Health Center is expecting to receive the H1N1 vaccine around the end of October or beginning of November. This depends on when the County Health Department receives more of the vaccines from the state. Upon receiving the vaccine the county must analyze and divide the doses based on the demand and actual need for the vaccine and distribute accordingly.

The Health Center requested 19,000 vaccines to meet the needs of all students. There are about 18,000 students that attend Cal Poly. However, the Health Center polled students twice last week and received varying results. In one poll two thirds of students said they intended to get the vaccine while in the second poll three quarters said they did not intend to be vaccinated.

Although they ordered 19,000 vaccines they will only receive 7,000 in the initial distribution from the county.

“We believe that the 7,000 will easily get us through the priority students (ones with existing conditions or high risk students) and the bulk of students who want it,” Director of Health and Counseling Services, Dr. Martin Bragg said. “Our hope is that we can get everyone a shot who wants a shot.”

Health care and emergency medical services personnel are included in the top five populations to receive the vaccine. The Health Center staff will be provided with the vaccine as well. This is similar to the seasonal flu shots provided for staff in the past years.

When the vaccine arrives in the next few weeks 12 to 15 staff members will be administering the vaccine. The training leading up to the release of the vaccine will include mainly “crowd control” due to the paperwork that must be done prior to receiving the vaccine and the crowds they expect at the release of the vaccine.

In order to accommodate the large-scale vaccinations to be administered the Health Center will have to alter operation for about two weeks.

According to the San Luis Obispo County Health Department during the week of Oct. 1-8 there were six hospitalized cases and “at least 37 persons have had PH lab results consistent with infection with the H1N1 virus.”

I just read an article in The Wall Street Journal about H1N1 swine flu called “Swine-Flu Report Details Number of Potential Cases” by Betsy McKay.

She wrote, “A report by a panel of scientific advisers to President Barack Obama on Monday presented a “plausible scenario” in which 60 million to 120 million Americans — or 20 percent to 40 percent of the U.S. population — contract H1N1 swine flu this fall and winter, and 30,000 to 90,000 people die of the disease.”

What I really want to know is: Are you freaking out?

We’ve reported on how the Cal Poly health center is preparing for the swine flu and coverage about it has been dominating the news.

At first it seemed like everyone was petrified of catching it and that the world was about to self-destruct, but then we calmed down. We wrote term papers, crammed for finals and headed home to enjoy the summer sans-face masks.

But now it appears the swine flu us back, ready to terrorize us again.
The California Department of Health reported that as of August 18, there were 1353 hospitalizations and ICU cases, 115 of which were fatal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a resource guide for higher education institutions with recommendations involving establishing a “flu buddy scheme” in which students pair up to take care of each other in case one of them becomes sick and having the school “explore innovative ways to increase the distances between students. Ideally, there should be at least 6 feet between people at most times.”
Honestly, I’m skeptical. So many people got all worked up the first time and then the chaos calmed down and the frenzy just seemed silly.

 I think I’m going to take precautions as advised by the CDC but not panic until my roommates start showing the symptoms.

Are you worried about getting the swine flu? And if so, what are you doing to prepare?

Swine flu, a virus contracted from pigs that’s currently ravaging central and southern Mexico, is spreading globally, including as close to Cal Poly as San Diego County. There have also been confirmed cases in Imperial County, and Sacramento County.

Cal Poly students who visited Mexico over spring break and are currently healthy most likely don’t need to worry about contracting the virus since there is an eight-day total incubation period for the virus, said Health Center Director Marty Bragg.

“Cal Poly students who haven’t reported it yet probably won’t get it,” he said.

According to a San Luis Obispo Country Health Agency press release, there were no cases of swine flu in the county as of Monday afternoon.

In a Cal Poly Academic Affairs e-mail released yesterday regarding swine flu symptoms, the college advised students on ways to avoid the spread of the flu. They also said that although none of Cal Poly’s swine stock is known to be infected, they are keeping in close contact with the San Luis Obispo County health department to monitor the outbreak situation.

Cal Poly Health Center Dr. David Harris said that he and his colleagues are taking precautions.

“If someone does come to the health center with a fever, nasal congestion, sore throat, or a cough, we’re going to ask them to put a mask on,” he said. “We don’t want to alarm people, we just want to be careful. We want to try and contain any upper respiratory sickness we see.”

Dr. Harris added that unlike Mexico, where swine flu has turned into a pandemic, U.S. citizens have access to better health care and thus the flu is less likely to turn into an epidemic

He also suggests staying healthy and maintaining standard hygienic habits. Washing hands often is one of the main ways to keep from contracting any illness including swine flu. Bragg also recommends keeping one’s hands away from one’s eyes, nose and mouth, and sneezing or coughing into an elbow rather than into hands. However, both Bragg and Harris said there was no need for Cal Poly students to panic.

The Center for Disease Control raised the count from seven to 11 confirmed cases of swine flu in California on Monday. Each case was reported to be self-contained and two of the infected people had underlying conditions. All individuals have recovered since contracting the virus. As of 1 p.m. Monday, there were 33 other laboratory confirmed cases in the United States: one in Ohio, two in Kansas, two in Texas, and 28 in New York City, according to the CDC’s Web site.

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has declared the situation a public health emergency. She insists that people keep in mind that although it is being called an “emergency,” the government is simply asking people be cautious. It does not mean that it has reached epidemic or pandemic status.

Symptoms of swine flu are very similar to that of the common seasonal flu including coughing, nasal congestion, body aches and joint pain, lethargy and most importantly, fever.

“If people are sick and have a fever they should stay home,” Harris said.

Mikaela Akuna contributed to this report