UMD community braces for tough flu season ahead
Some University of Maryland community members suspect that the upcoming flu season could severely impact campus and current student symptoms, previous flu seasons and a lack of concern serve as indicators.
Maryland’s University Health Center has “seen an increase in visits for symptoms of upper respiratory infections, including COVID-19 and other cold-related illnesses,” according to an email statement sent by the health center to the campus community Monday.
The flu, which is a viral illness that infects your nose, throat and lungs, usually has a season that lasts from October through May. It typically includes symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose and can be managed with “rest and self-care,” according to the Health Center.
Sometimes its complications, such as a sinus infection and pneumonia, can be deadly, according to the Mayo Clinic. The University Health Center is encouraging students to stay at home if they are sick and to avoid crowded places to prevent the spread of germs.
Student Symptoms
Some students say that flu and cold symptoms are springing up in many of their classes, only three weeks into the school year.
“I’ve just been in class and I’m hearing people coughing and sneezing around me,” said Martina Logan, a senior Chinese and immersive media design major. “It makes me a little anxious…because nobody likes being sick.”
Jasmin Owens, a junior majoring in government and politics, feels similarly, noting that in a lot of her classes, students are displaying flu symptoms. While Owens isn’t sure what this year’s flu season is going to hold, she believes the campus’ size could contribute to the virus’s spread.
“I can only imagine that being in a campus like this, where there’s so many people, it’s going to spread pretty fast,” Owens said. “I mean, it could be like one of those things where you just get over it quickly.”
Associate professor of epidemiology, Typhanye Dyer, has also seen a major uptick in student illnesses this semester, and the symptoms of students who have contracted the flu are particularly severe. This is because of two new strains, H1N1 and H3N2, where there is currently a mismatch between the dominant strains and the vaccine, Dyer explained.
“We might have vaccines this season that aren’t as effective as they could possibly be,” Dyer said.
Previous Flu Seasons On Campus
During the 2024-2025 flu season, between 47 to 87 million people had flu-related illnesses, and over 610,000 people had to be hospitalized, according to The Centers for Disease Control. The CDC also announced in a preliminary report the flu severity last year was rated high across all ages.
Hakima Hussaini, a University of Maryland alum who graduated in May 2025 with her master’s in public health, was frustrated because last year’s flu season canceled a lot of in-person meetings she had scheduled.
“Last winter, it was pretty bad,” Hussaini said. “And even up to spring, I felt like everyone was sick, and it certainly made [her experience on campus] difficult.”
Dyer wasn’t on campus last year but she believes that the new strains, which don’t align with the current flu vaccine, could impact the severity of new cases.
“This season, the severity is worse than it was last season,” Dyer said.
Vaccination As a Solution
To prevent the spread of the flu, vaccinations “go the distance,” according to Dyer. But vaccination as a solution can be difficult to achieve amongst college students, according to Joi Kenner, a dual bachelors of science and masters of public health student majoring in public health practices, and the president of the Association for Black Public Health Students. This is because they often don’t take the initiative to get their routine vaccines.
“I think it will devastate our campus in a way that could’ve easily been prevented,” Kenner said, referring to a conversation she had with another peer about how, once students leave grade school, they no longer have required vaccinations and don’t take the initiative to vaccinate.
Required vaccines to enroll at the university include: two measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) doses, one meningitis ACWY vaccine within three years of campus arrival, one tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (TDAP) vaccine dose within the last 10 years. Flu or COVID vaccines are not required.
Kenner believes that more could be done to “push and nudge” the student body to start thinking about their routine vaccinations, even though she has seen a lot of different departments and schools campaign in different ways for flu vaccines.
Columbia University hosted a week long “Flu Fair” campaign in 2023, and found that social media, word of mouth at orientation events, newsletters and posters throughout campus contributed to the university being able to vaccinate over 7,000 community members.
“I don’t think, especially at the beginning of the school year, [getting vaccinated] is at the top of anybody’s mind at all,” Kenner said. “We joke about things like the freshman flu and all of that, getting used to the environment. But in reality, that’s not something that we should consider normal, and it’s something that could be prevented.”
Kenner said that students are just not engaging with the vaccination communication the university is pushing.
“I think it’s being done, and it’s not being forgotten,” Kenner said. “But at the same time, [the promotion of vaccines] is just not something that students are engaging with…”
Dyer urges students, especially those who are coming from communities where there may be medical mistrust, to do their research and inform themselves on the flu to make the best decision for themselves, and ultimately make the University of Maryland healthier.
“It just takes one person. Just one person at a time,” Dyer said. “One department at a time, one university at a time, and we kind of build out from there.”
Students, staff and faculty members looking to receive their flu shots can visit myuhc.umd.edu to schedule an appointment. Free COVID-19 test-kits are available at the health center, but not the vaccine.