The seasonal flu vaccine may not be not readily available, because the focus has been on the H1N1 vaccine.

Local health department supplies of the seasonal flu vaccine have run dry, but it will be available at James Madison University Friday.

Students, faculty and staff are eligible to receive a seasonal flu vaccine. Officials are expecting more than 1,500 patients.

While the shot does come with a fee, campus health officials say the risk of infection would carry a much higher cost.

Sick students, like Katie Deskin, are skipping class and streaming into the health center at JMU. Most say they have flu-like symptoms.

Deskin describes, "I have a fever, my throat is killing me, I have body aches."

Both the seasonal and H1N1flus concern Medical Director Stephen Rodgers. He's seeing an abnormal spike in sick visits for this time of year.

"There is expected to be other waves of this flu over even 18-month period of time. We probably have had swine flu; we've kept numbers, but we're not very high as far as some colleges," says Rodgers.

To keep flu cases to a minimum, Cannie Campbell, Director of JMU's Health Center, urges the campus community to the vaccine at this clinic.

"We have very concerned parents who are calling and wanting to know when the vaccine is going to be offered, do we have it, how can my child get it, and we have some students who are definitely worried about it," says Campbell. "I think we have a little bit of everything this year."

Junior Dawn Evans got the seasonal flu shot.

She says, "It's worth it, because there's sickness going around and anything can happen. The H1N1 is around and to have this here at JMU, it's really convenient, it's really good. So I mean it's well worth the money.

Still, the health center is widely publicizing flu prevention tips, such washing hands thoroughly, cleaning frequently used surfaces and covering coughs.

Rodgers says, at its highest point, the health center saw more than 980 patients. He says numbers like that correlate to winter months, January though March, rather than the fall.

The shot will cost $25 for students and $15 for staff. It will be offered again November 13 and December 4.