Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, headache, chills, muscle ache and fatigue, Beatty said.

Olin Health Center offers two flu vaccinations, Beatty said. These include a standard flu shot that is injected into the patient’s body and FluMist, a nasal spray.

The shots most likely are covered by insurance, Beatty said, but if not, the flu shot costs $37 and FluMist costs $68.

However, if an MSU student pays for the shot the same day he or she receives it, the student will be offered the shot at a discounted price of $20.

Last year, Olin Health Center gave between 1,100 and 1,400 flu vaccinations, Beatty said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year 5-20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu, 200,000 or more people with the illness are hospitalized and nearly 36,000 people die from it.

While anyone who wants to reduce the chance of getting the flu should get vaccinated, the CDC says certain segments of the population are at greater risk of flu-related complications than others.

Those people include children younger than 5, pregnant women, people 50 and older and people with chronic medical conditions.

Those are the people who will be first to receive flu vaccinations in case of a shortage, Beatty said.

The last time Olin had a shortage was four years ago.

While getting vaccinated could help reduce your chance of catching the flu, it won’t promise a winter free of stuffy noses.

“The next time you come into contact with it you’ll already have antibiotics and your body will be able to fight it off better,” Beatty said. “These aren’t guarantees — it’s just a hope they will lessen the symptoms.”