Florida Gators Submit to Nasal Flu Vaccination

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Florida Gators Submit to Nasal Flu Vaccination

Matt Humphrey
Orlando Sentinel

September 21, 2009
The Sentinel?s Jeremy Fowler reported Sunday night that UF football players received a nasal spray vaccine over the weekend for a ?seasonal flu virus?.
So what exactly did the No. 1 Gators spray up their noses?

This from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

The nasal-spray flu vaccine is a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu (sometimes called LAIV for ?live attenuated influenza vaccine? or FluMist?). LAIV (FluMist?) is approved for use in healthy* people 2-49 years of age who are not pregnant.​

Each seasonal influenza vaccine contains three influenza viruses-one A (H3N2) virus, one regular seasonal A (H1N1) virus (not the 2009 H1N1 virus), and one B virus. The viruses in the vaccine change each year based on international surveillance and scientists? estimations about which types and strains of viruses will circulate in a given year. About 2 weeks after vaccination, antibodies that provide protection against influenza virus infection develop in the body.​

The seasonal flu vaccine will not provide protection against 2009 H1N1 flu.​

I don?t know about you, but a few things strike me odd about this whole story:
1. If Urban Meyer was really worried about the flu and how it impacted his football team, he wouldn?t have allowed Jeff Demps to play against Tennessee with a 101-degree temperature.
2. If Demps, Aaron Hernandez and Jermaine Cunningham were experiencing flu-like symptoms, it probably wasn?t a good idea for them to receive the vaccine.
3. I wonder if the three of them shook hands with Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin and his crew? Hmm ?
P.S. If you would to know more about the FluMist nasal vaccine, here?s a link to more information. Not only is it good enough for Tim Tebow, it?s also used by the United States military.



UF faces Swine Flu fears after 3 starters met Tennessee with flu-like symptoms

GAINESVILLE ? The are more concerned than ever about a potential Swine Flu outbreak in the locker room.

Three marquee starters ? running back Jeff Demps, tight end Aaron Hernandez and defensive end Jermaine Cunningham ? played in Saturday?s 23-13 win over Tennessee with flu-like symptoms. Demps started the game with a 101-degree fever and probably shouldn?t have played, Coach Urban Meyer said.
All three players left Sunday?s practice with helmets in hand, appearing to have practiced. They haven?t been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus ? the flu strain commonly referred to as Swine Flu ? but Meyer is on edge about keeping his top-ranked team healthy.
Florida spokesman Steve McClain said each player received a nasal spray vaccine over the weekend for a ?seasonal flu virus?

 

[Lumi]

UF faces Swine Flu fears after 3 starters met Tennessee with flu-like symptoms

UF faces Swine Flu fears after 3 starters met Tennessee with flu-like symptoms

UF faces Swine Flu fears after 3 starters met Tennessee with flu-like symptoms

GAINESVILLE ? The Florida Gators are more concerned than ever about a potential Swine Flu outbreak in the locker room.

Three marquee starters ? running back Jeff Demps, tight end Aaron Hernandez and defensive end Jermaine Cunningham ? played in Saturday's 23-13 win over Tennessee with flu-like symptoms. Demps started the game with a 101-degree fever and probably shouldn't have played, Coach Urban Meyer said.

All three players left Sunday's practice with helmets in hand, appearing to have practiced. They haven't been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus ? the flu strain commonly referred to as Swine Flu ? but Meyer is on edge about keeping his top-ranked team healthy.

Florida spokesman Steve McClain said each player received a nasal spray vaccine over the weekend for a "seasonal flu virus".

"It is a panic level of proportions I've never seen before," Meyer said. "That's coming from me. You hear about, I think, Wisconsin had 40 players. Ole Miss had 20 players. My wife, with her great insight, said, 'Do you realize the swine flu and everything is hitting the Florida campus last week?' My gosh."

Up to 40 percent of the University of Florida student body could catch the H1N1 virus, according to school officials. UF has seen more than 400 cases of flu-like symptoms since April. Universities across the country are scrambling to educate students about combating the outbreak with various precautionary measures.

Demps, a former Groveland South Lake star, is a primary concern for Florida because he's on the front-end of the flu. Hernandez and Cunningham felt sick earlier in the week and are coming out of the illness.

All three players didn't match their normal production against the Vols.

Demps rushed four times for 31 yards and a touchdown. Hernandez finished with four catches for 26 yards and Cunningham added one tackle. Hernandez is irreplaceable as Florida's only active tight end.

Their sluggish presence could have contributed to Florida's frustrating day against Tennessee when many expected a win of 30 points or more.

"They were beat up pretty good," Meyer said of his ill players.

Purell bottles are strategically placed throughout the Gators football offices and locker rooms. Sick players are even isolated before and after games. More isolations might be in order if the sickness spreads.

"It's real," Meyer said. "We go to the extremes. They get a separate dorm room for them. They get a separate hotel room for them. They put them right on whatever the flu stuff is. Our guys, our team doctors, they're on it as fast as you can get on it."

The Gators play at Kentucky at 6 p.m. Saturday.