As flu season nears, UNC is offering opportunities to receive the influenza vaccination at locations across campus.
The flu is a virus that causes an infection in the respiratory system and can affect the entire body. For the vast majority of cases, the virus has little effect besides a fever and cold-like symptoms. However, on occasion it can be more aggressive and cause more serious consequences, including death.
This was the case with Alana Yaksich, a five-year-old girl who died in 2003 due to complications with the virus.
“At the time, I had no idea that the flu could kill anybody,” her father, Zachary Yaksich said.
In order to bring awareness to the dangers of not getting vaccinated, Zachary Yaksich founded Alana’s Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to influenza education and making it easy and affordable for anyone to get vaccinated.
In 2014, Alana’s Foundation began the Michigan College Flu Challenge, which was designed to increase the amount of vaccinations administered to college students. A year later, they expanded the challenge to be nationwide, naming it the Alana Yaksich National College/University Flu Vaccination Challenge. In 2018, UNC joined its ranks, winning in the medium-sized university category from then until 2022.
According to information about the 2023-24 challenge, UNC administered around 7,000 influenza vaccinations to students, faculty and staff.
“We’re studying in [economics] about positive externalities, and one of the things we were looking at was measles,” first-year student Anushka Jose said. “And [the professor] said if 94 to 96 percent of the population gets the vaccine for measles, nobody will ever get it.”
Jose is referring to herd immunity — the scientific concept that if the majority of people are immune to a virus, either through a vaccine or exposure, then the virus will run out of people to infect and effectively fade away.
