While the current outbreak of the flu at USC will likely pass within the next two weeks, Student Health is beginning to see cases of a different influenza strain — which can be contracted immediately after the first — circulating on campus, Chief Campus Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman said in a briefing with the Daily Trojan Wednesday morning.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put California at “high” risk for influenza activity, and the latest report from the California Department of Public Health reports that the percentage of patients with influenza-like symptoms is 1% higher than baseline levels.

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USC implemented a mandate during the coronavirus pandemic in order to avoid overloading the Los Angeles healthcare system with both coronavirus and flu cases, but dropped the requirement for the 2022-23 academic year because flu mandates were not standard at other universities. 

In the absence of public health crises such as the coronavirus pandemic, Van Orman said USC is selective in setting vaccine requirements and balances the most important vaccines with the willingness of students to comply with mandates. 

 “We tried to pick vaccine requirements based on community protection, and for things like measles, the community protection is very high,” Van Orman said. “[The flu vaccine] protects the community, it more protects the individual to get the vaccine, and … the [flu’s] risk to the individual is a lot lower, particularly for students, than with the other things that we have vaccine requirements on.”

Van Orman said this is now more difficult than ever with current public sentiment. According to the CDC, 7.33 million fewer doses of the flu vaccine were administered this year compared to the 2023 season.

Student Health will begin offering free sexually transmitted infection testing to students not on the Student Health Insurance Plan starting Feb. 10. The week will also offer information about wellness resources on campus. STI testing will not appear on students’ insurance bills and will extend through the month. 

In the weeks following the closure of the CVS Pharmacy within USC Village, Student Health continues to recommend that students visit the CVS Pharmacy on Figueroa Street to get their prescriptions filled. Van Orman said the USC Health Center Pharmacy next to Engemann Student Health Center is also a good option, and Student Health was working with USC Pharmacy to make it more accessible to students. 

“We’re really trying to raise awareness of the [Health Center Pharmacy],” Van Orman said. “There is a challenge that the [Health Center Pharmacy] isn’t open on weekends, and we know for some students that that can be a barrier. We’re continuing to work with USC Pharmacy, and they are evaluating their options.”

Van Orman said the wastewater testing program at USC continues to be effective at alerting Student Health of the presence of virus outbreaks on campus, including the most recent flu outbreak and outbreaks of COVID-19. Student Health continues to use the data to monitor the virus.

The University also began testing the wastewater for norovirus during the pandemic. If there were to be an outbreak of norovirus on campus, Student Health would leverage the wastewater testing system for a fast “enhanced cleaning” protocol developed alongside USC Housing. 

“We had [the program] in place prior to the wastewater testing, but we used to have to wait until we got a bunch of reports that people were having symptoms, and oftentimes by the time you are able to get the clinical reports … it’s almost over,” Van Orman said. “The idea is that we would be able to implement the cleaning before we had reduced the number of cases.”