UWG students pass on swine flu shot

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

If you want college students to do something, offer them free food and other giveaways.

It kind of works.

The University of West Georgia tried that approach last week to persuade students to get the swine flu vaccine. They attempted to entice students with coupons for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich and "I Beat the Bug" T-shirts. But only 141 students were vaccinated at the event Wednesday night.

Officials at the Carrollton college are taking drastic steps to persuade more of its nearly 11,500 students to get protected from the swine flu virus, also called H1N1. The college started giving out the vaccine Oct. 28, and only 1,280 students have received the vaccine so far, spokesman Rob Douthit said.

While many adults are on the hunt for the vaccine, college students are taking a pass even though it is being offered free on campus. College-age adults are among the most susceptible to swine flu and are considered a priority group for the vaccine, but they are ignoring pleas from college officials, government leaders, medical experts and their parents to get it.

James Turner, president of the American College Health Association, said his group is working with the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a media campaign targeting college students.

Students are apathetic toward the disease, Turner said, because they saw friends who did get the swine flu just had a fever and a cough for a few days.  They don't understand that getting vaccinated prevents them from infecting others, he said.

"Kids are shrugging their shoulders and wondering what the big deal is," Turner said. "The big deal is when you go home over Thanksgiving and get your pregnant sister or little niece or nephew sick. "

Chandra Jones, a junior at UWG, got vaccinated to be safe but said she is one of a few who did.

"Most students are saying that they haven't gotten the swine flu yet so they believe they are not going to get it all," said Jones, who is from Franklin. "There are also people telling students not to get the shot. There are some who are afraid of the side effects of the shot. They believe that the government did not test the shot enough."

Comments on the college's Facebook page allege that the virus is a hyped-up threat by the media and question whether the medical experts who say the vaccine is safe are peddling for pharmaceutical companies. UWG officials have posted links on the page to articles stating the vaccine is safe and recommended for college students.

Some colleges are having greater success getting students to take the vaccine. Georgia Tech began administering the swine flu vaccine Wednesday, and about 80 percent of the nearly 300 people who were treated were students, spokeswoman Lisa Grovenstein said.

UWG officials said they may be struggling because the college wasn't hit that hard by swine flu. The college had about 110 flu cases this semester, Douthit said. Georgia Tech's health services saw more than 200 students with flulike symptoms during the first month of college and were treating about 50 students a day with flulike symptoms during the initial surge.

Students with chronic health conditions that contribute to the severity of the illness are getting vaccinated, said Turner, executive director of student health at the University of Virginia. He said about 230 of those students got shots on his campus. The college enrolls about 21,000 students, he said.

Turner said leaders will have a better idea of how much demand there is in the next couple of weeks as more colleges get the vaccine.