Over the past few weeks, an increase in the number of students with illnesses on campus has led many to seek medical attention from Health Center. As cases of influenza spread at a rapid rate nationwide and other respiratory illnesses spread on campus, the Health Center is responding to a sharp influx in students seeking care.

Director of Health Services Christine Mahoney spoke on the causes of the increased number of students visiting the center, citing the flu as a major contributor.

“So, in general, there are times of year in any clinic, and here as well, where there’s an influx of illness. We saw back in the fall a similar spike that was more for a strain of pneumonia that was going around on the East Coast,” Mahoney said. “But since we’ve been back on campus this semester, we’ve been seeing a ton of flu and flu-like illness.”

This spike in student cases of the flu and flu-like illnesses is in line with a larger trend nationwide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) national statistics regarding the flu reveal an upward trend of visits to healthcare providers this week. According to the latest CDC data, Maine is one of the states with a “very high” activity level for visits for respiratory illnesses that include symptoms such as fevers, coughs or sore throats.

“We’re on par with all the increase in illness that our whole country has been seeing with flu and flu-like illnesses. It’s been the highest numbers in like 20 years,” Mahoney said.

This increase in flu-like symptoms is occurring at the same time as the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) has classified an outbreak of pertussis—otherwise known as whooping cough—at the College. However, Mahoney clarified this classification by putting it in the context of the other illnesses on campus.

“We have to use that word [outbreak] because the [Maine] CDC determined that, but the total number of cases of that is tiny compared to how much flu and illness we’ve been seeing,” Mahoney said.

Mahoney also spoke on the Health Center’s process regarding booking student appointments, their availability and other ways in which it provides students with medical assistance.

“As far as the amount of illness from our staffing perspective and access to appointments, there’s always a process of triaging,… seeing what’s necessary, getting people in urgently, or if it can wait a couple days,” Mahoney said. “And so there’s always a process with that, and we have in our schedules same-day availability. So often [we] can fit people in same-day or the next day.”

Mahoney detailed that the center is trying to give students the resources they would need in order to self-evaluate their sickness and to see if they need to come in for medical attention. This takes the form of a call or an email sent to students with information regarding symptoms and treatments that they can partake in to help treat a cold or flu.

“Calling and email really are both efficient ways to get in touch. Our front desk coordinators, Courtney and Laura, are constantly checking the emails and answering the phones. And then Laura does some nurse triage. If somebody calls and leaves a message,… Laura will actually call them to do some assessment over the phone to see, do [they] need to come right in or can it wait till tomorrow?” Mahoney said.