Christine Chung
Kennedy student showing signs of illness with the spread of the influenza virus
Different from any influenza season that Granada Hills has seen before, this year’s flu season has taken a serious turn with the dramatic rates of affected students and staff who are staying home from the sickness. The turnout of the flu pandemic this year is continuing to increase, similarly to how the illness spread before the hit of the pandemic, though this season of sickness is not estimated to be quite as severe as Kaiser Permanente states.
Angelina Huang, a sophomore at Kennedy, stated, “I had to leave school early because of a high fever, but it didn’t go away, and I ended up missing out on a lot of schoolwork and tests because of my absences.”
The CDC claims that there have been about 47 influenza-related deaths, with 44 states within the United States reporting having high flu activity. The flu is the infection of the nose, throat, and lungs: making it a respiratory illness that can be spread through the transfer of the influenza virus from students to students through coughs or sneezes.
The influenza virus is known to be present and circulating throughout the colder months, specifically October to May, with the peak months being January through February. The current rate of students within California who have fallen to the sickness has reached around 26% towards the end of the month of January. The California Department of Public Health has declared the reporting of three deaths and twenty severe cases within California.
Marco Di Salvo, a junior at Kennedy, stated, “I got the flu from my friend and it completely wiped me out but by the time I came back, all of my friends were sick too.”
Many students and staff members at Kennedy have taken instructional days off from school due to illness, which has caused a minor setback in the lives of some students from loss of time spent within the classroom.
The efficiency of the flu shot for 2024 – 2025 is about 40% to 60%, which is similar to the effectiveness of the 2023 flu season with 42%. While the current influenza strain of the virus that is currently going around is claimed to be strain A, which is known to cause more serious symptoms than its counterpart, strain B; strain B was more prevalent during flu season its previous year which may be a cause for the serious nature of the flu in 2025.
But due to the ever interesting rise in influenza cases present at the moment, students that have not been able to receive their influenza shots should take the opportunity to get it now, according to physicians who also recommend that students who find themselves to be more susceptible to the flu should take precautions, such as wearing face masks and consistently washing their hands throughout the school day.