Tenesha Hughes
Staff Writer
It’s your health and the Jackson State University Health Center wants you to learn it, know it, and live it.
During the annual fall health forum: What’s Bugging You?, held on Nov. 17, students, faculty and staff gathered in the Student Center to discuss issues surrounding the Ebola virus, influenza, STD’s, HIV/AIDS and health insurance.
The Health Center at JSU provides students access to a variety of outpatient medical services for illnesses and injuries. Campus wide health promotion is also a major focus of the Center.
The panelists for the event included: Dr. Samuel Jones, Director of Health Services at JSU, Dr. Hursie Davis-Sullivan, Associate Physician at the JSU Health Center, Jonathan Robinson, Disease Prevention Specialist at Building Bridges Inc., and Camille Simms, an Affordable Healthcare Insurance Representative.
Jones opened the discussion with facts about the Ebola virus that helped some students gain more knowledge about the virus and dispel rumors about the disease.
“Ebola is a virus that lives in all bodily fluids. It is spread when that fluid comes into contact with another person’s bodily fluid; so that can be breaking of the skin, or through the eye, inside the mouth or gets present in the vaginal fluid,” said Jones
He added: “Some of the symptoms are just like the flu; headache, fever, aching in the muscles and eventually it interferes with the body ability to pump blood. Diarrhea and vomiting are very common symptoms.”
Herbert Allen, a senior computer engineering major from Edwards. Miss., attended the event and was glad the Ebola virus was one of the topics of discussion.
“I wanted to get some insight on some of the topics. I noticed they had quite a few to discuss and the questions I asked got answered and I got some valuable information for it. I was unclear about Ebola and the screening procedures they use for individuals that enter the country and the Director of the Student Health Center clarified my concerns,” said Allen.
Dr. Sullivan talked briefly about the two strains of the influenza virus: A and B. Influenza, or flu, is a respiratory illness that is caused by a virus. Flu is highly contagious and is usually spread by the coughs and sneezes of a person who is infected.
“We typically don’t create a vaccine for these two viruses expect on a yearly basis. So each time you get immunization for influenza, you’re getting protecting from influenza A as well as influenza B. The reason they have to make the vaccine on a yearly basis is because the virus mutates or changes rapidly, so what they may have had the vaccine for last year may not be appropriate for the vaccines strains this year,” said Sullivan.
HIV/AIDS was also a topic discussed during the forum. According to the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) 2013 Health Profile, Mississippi ranked 20th among the 50 states in diagnosis of HIV in the number of HIV diagnoses in 2011.
Robinson dispelled many falsehoods students had about how a person can become infected with HIV like hugging, showering together or sharing the same fork. A person can only acquire the disease from infected persons they have unprotected sex with, share needles with, or mother-to-child transmission.
To know if you have HIV, you must take an antibody test. The test determines if you have been exposed to the virus or not. Only a doctor can diagnose someone with AIDS. For an accurate antibody test reading, wait three weeks to three months after a risky behavior (unprotected sex, needles sharing, etc.) to get tested. If exposed to HIV, this waiting period allows for antibodies to form in your body.
With the second round of deadlines approaching on Dec. 15 to enroll in Affordable Healthcare, Simms shared the 10 essential health care benefits.
1. Ambulatory Patient Services
2. Emergency Services
3. Maternity and Newborn Care
4. Pediatric Services including dental and vision care
5. Rehabilitative services
6. Mental Health/Substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment
7. Preventive/wellness services and chronic disease management
8. Hospitalization
9. Prescription Drugs
10. Lab Services
The Health Center also offered free flu shots for anybody who was interested in taking it.
Christy Gibson, a freshman mathematics major from New Orleans, La., took full advantage of the opportunity.
“I think it is great that JSU is giving free flu shots, because it’s getting really cold and a lot of people are getting sick,” said Gibson.
The University Health Center is located on Prentiss Street, across from the Lee E. Williams Athletics & Assembly Center. For more information, call 601-979-2260.
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