This year’s flu season one can expect a large increase in flu cases compared to 2021’s season, which had relatively minimal cases.

So far there have been 4.4 million cases, this number is roughly doubling every week, according to the CDC. 

Now, you may not have caught the flu in previous seasons; however, both in research and interviews it was discovered that there is a much higher chance you catch the flu this season. 

Senior Breigh Bigelow caught the flu and was sick for a week. 

“I had the flu… [for] about a week,” Bigelow said. 

However, that’s just one person. Have many students been getting sick? The answer is yes, a surprising number of students have gotten sick this Winter. Sophomore Marissa Bonner knew roughly 5 people who got sick.

“Probably ‘bout… ‘bout 5 or 6,” Bonner said. 

Granted, this may seem like a small number, however, when multiple people know 5 or 10 people who have gotten sick, it quickly adds up.

Now we all enjoy our time off, but what happens to your grades? The general consensus is either nothing, or just a slight dip in your grades. For example, junior Trevor Allen was sick with the flu for 5 days and said he didn’t have any trouble making up his grades.

“It wasn’t too bad [to make up grades]…” Allen said. 

Now to avoid being sick. Should you be taking preventative measures? Well, yes and no. Measures such as masks and social distancing are extremely effective; however, many students such as freshman Joseph Bray, are not taking any preventative measures.

“Probably not [going to take any preventative measures],” Bray said.

Last year there were only 1675 flu cases in accordance with the CDC mostly due to those preventative measures. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to take any measures to protect yourself, the only strongly recommended measure is to get your vaccines. 

This year the CDC found that flu vaccines were around 40-60 percent effective. By preventing flu we protect ourselves, but mainly we protect those who are at high risk, such as elderly and immuno-deficient persons.

In conclusion, many people are getting sick this year with the flu, so yes you should be concerned. However as long as a majority of students get vaccinated for the flu this year’s season should be a smooth ride.