(NECN: Deanna Morgan, Chestnut Hill, Mass.) - Boston-area college students are returning to campus this week amid a massive flu outbreak. Now, local colleges are taking steps to stop the spread of the flu before it starts.
Break time is over at Boston College. Students are back in session, ready to hit the books. Only Pat Grady, a graduate student at BC forgot one small detail. He forgot to get his flu shot.
"I have things to do," says Grady. "I don't have time to get sick, but I don't think I will."
We don't think he will if he gets a flu shot, but with Boston dealing with a flu emergency, it's hard to know if someone will or won't.
Several colleges are offering free flu clinics for students to get vaccinated. BC isn't, but administrators have said they'll be wiping down the campus to try and keep it bacteria and virus free. It's a little extra help for Gabriela Acebel, a student at Boston College.
"Actually, I get sick...often," says Acebel, who came back to school with a flu shot, among other things.
"I take a lot of vitamins; I do take care of my health a lot."
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She also keeps her hand sanitizer handy.
As for Pat Grady and his back to school flu shot...
"I...figure...a lot of people around me have been sick and I haven't been, so I just figured...I've built up the immunity," says Grady.
