Officials are alarmed by the large number of influenza cases seen on campus this month, an outbreak that has prompted University Health Services (UHS) to arrange a special vaccination clinic on Thursday.

However, because the vaccine developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not exactly match the strain causing the virus, officials believe this year might be worse than ever. Each year, the strain of the influenza virus mutates, making it hard for the CDC to wipe out the virus with its vaccine.

Margaret Spear, UHS director, said she has seen about 200 students with flu-like symptoms over the past few weeks. Five cases were confirmed to be influenza A, she said. Spear said she is concerned about the timing of the outbreak, which has come much earlier in the year than usual.

"In the past, it's not uncommon that we see a couple of students right before Christmas break," she said. "But by the time students come back, the outbreak has kind of burned itself out."

"The timing of it early in the semester simply means that more students are likely to get sick and that's why we are concerned," she added.

UHS spokeswoman Ellen Nagy said the clinicians at UHS are concerned that students will not take the outbreak seriously.

"Most students don't realize how quickly something like this can spread," she said. "Most students are living in close quarters and most likely haven't been exposed to what can happen when you have a real outbreak."

Nagy said there are some new antiviral drugs that can reduce the severity of the symptoms if administered within 48 hours after contracting the virus.

"There is no magic bullet with this," Nagy said. "They will help some, but because you can't use antibiotics, you don't have that almost immediate release."

She said the best thing students can do to protect themselves against the virus is to get a flu shot. UHS will hold a flu shot clinic from 2 to 7 p.m. on Thursday in Ritenour Building. There will be 500 shots available for $20 per shot.

Nagy said UHS vaccinated about 1,400 students at a flu shot clinic held at the HUB-Robeson Center in November.

"In an ideal situation, you want to have the majority of students immunized, and that's far from the majority, with 40,000 students on campus," she said.

Nagy said students could take additional precautions, such as practicing good hygiene, washing their hands frequently, not sharing utensils and keeping their immune system up.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.