To increase flu vaccination rates among college students, CSL Biotherapies is partnering on Season Pass with Jesse Palmer, ESPN co-host of “College Football Live” and former pro football player. Season Pass is a novel program designed to immunize as many college students as possible during the 2008-2009 influenza (flu) season. College students are at risk for contracting the flu due to their close living quarters and frequent contact with other students. Season Pass aims to educate college students about influenza prevention and motivate them to visit their on-campus health center to get vaccinated.

“We want college students around the country to avoid getting sidelined by the flu,” said Palmer. “Classrooms and dorms are the perfect environments for spreading the flu. So, we are getting the word out that receiving a flu shot is the best defensive strategy to tackle the virus before it blocks you from your game.” Palmer is a former NFL quarterback for the NY Giants and San Francisco 49ers.

The Season Pass campaign began at Arizona State University (ASU) as a pilot initiative organized by the ASU Campus Health Center during the 2007-08 flu season. It consisted of two week-long flu vaccine clinics on-campus and giveaway items. The program successfully increased by 70 percent the number of vaccinations that were administered on the ASU campus during the 2007-2008 flu season. This season, the program is being expanded to select universities across the U.S.

“College life is extremely busy and stressful for students,” said Allan L. Markus, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix in partnership with Arizona State University and Director of the Campus Health Service at Arizona State University. “Although they are at high risk for the flu, many college students don’t get a flu shot because they may not be aware of the important health benefit it offers. Season Pass is geared toward educating students on the impact influenza can have on themselves and those around them and highlight the need for yearly immunization.”