Well before you jam into trains and cars and planes for the holidays, please get your flu shot, and your COVID-19 shot, too.
As soon as the weather cools and flu rates ramp up, I am reminded of a friend from when I was an assistant professor at Penn. One day at a university meeting, she sat down with a sigh, turned to me and shared that her dear friend’s child had died of the flu. She promised that she would do whatever she could to get other people to protect their kids through vaccinations. In that moment, with four children of my own at home, her cause immediately resonated with me.
During the 2024-25 flu season in the United States, about 280 children and more than 38,000 total individuals died of flu complications. Among children who died from the flu last year, 89% were unvaccinated. This year, epidemiologists are forecasting a rough flu season ahead, based on recent data from the U.K., Canada and Japan.
If you’ve ever had influenza, you already know that it’s not a regular cold, and it can cancel all academic, social and athletic plans for days, weeks or worse. The same can be true for COVID-19, even in young people. With both flu and COVID-19, there’s a risk of prolonged post-viral syndromes, especially with repeated infections, which can radically alter your functional status, wellbeing and outlook on life. As a college student, it’s terrible to be that sick when you don’t have the comforts and caregivers you may be used to at home, and especially when you want to be engaged in your academics and lives.
The flu vaccine reduces risk of hospitalization by 70-75% among children and 30-40% among older adults. The COVID-19 vaccine reduces risk of severe illness and death by an impressive 90%.
Both the flu and COVID-19 vaccines also shorten the severity and duration of illness if infection does occur — which should, in turn, also reduce the number of people you go on to infect. Vaccination is not only a gift to yourself, but also to your roommates, classmates and friends. Getting vaccinated is an especially effective way to provide practical support to people who are elderly or disabled.
So, in the spirit of keeping us all healthy — please visit Student Health Services to roll up your sleeves and get vaccinated. There’s a dedicated flu and COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Nov. 19 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. And it’s the last one of the semester, so make a plan and go. Better yet, make it social and take friends along with you — and celebrate the holidays in good health.
As a mom to one of you, I’m grateful for all the ways you take care of one another and yourselves.
Carolyn Cannuscio ’92, P’26 is an epidemiologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She can be reached at cannusci@upenn.edu. Please send responses to this op-ed to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
