By Shannon Desmond 

As this year’s cold and flu season moves in a college dormitory becomes almost the perfect setting for germs to spread. With an abundance of shared space in a college dorm, if one person is sick the likelihood of others becoming infected is greatly increased through the handle to the laundry room door or the button on the water fountain along with hundreds of other spots. 

“As soon as I get over a cold I seem to get another one,” said Michael Asinas, a current sophomore at the University of Vermont. “Being in the dorms you can’t seem to avoid touching things that everyone else who’s sick touches.” For example, students often pass around electronic cigarettes back and forth amongst friends said Asinas. 

James Koppelmann, a current junior at Saint Michael’s College said “I watch kids slobber all over each others Juuls and not even care to think about whether or not the person’s sick.” 

Sharing a beverage or electronic cigarette is an easy way to share cold and flu bacteria. Flu, or influenza, affects between 5 and 20 percent of the United States population each year, and killed thousands last year. One way to avoid the flu is to get a flu shot at a local drug store like CVS or even Wal-Mart or the Shaw’s supermarket in Colchester. The Centers for Disease Control advises everyone receive a flu vaccine by the end of October. 

Beyond the vaccine, wash your hands frequently, said Denis Daignault, one of the lead pharmacists on staff at Shaw’s grocery store in Colchester. The flu season generally begins for them around mid-November and gets particularly bad going into December when the temperature starts to drop significantly. 

“You can never wash your hands too many times in a day,” Daignault said. 

On the Saint Michael’s College website in the Bergeron Wellness Center section you can find more information about flu prevention as well as a flu shot locator to help find a convenient location for you.