Illustration by Mia Kohn

As September approaches, so too does the elusive, playfully-termed annual fall phenomenon of the “Yague” or “Yale Plague.”

The “Yague,” colloquially referring to respiratory illnesses that transmit rapidly among students in the early weeks of classes, is not unusual for this time of year, according to Madeline Wilson, the chief campus health officer.

“[The Yague] is the product of large groups of people repopulating campus, living together and engaging in a wide variety of group activities,” Wilson wrote in an email to the News.

Students who experience symptoms of illness are also less likely to take protective measures — such as masking, testing and isolating — which fuels the spread of disease across campus, added Wilson.

Also termed as the “Freshman” or “Frat” flu, the “Yague” especially afflicts first-year students.

“I contracted the Yague a little while after the first week of classes,” first-year Davenport student Maya Kulesza ’28  said. “It’s been a week or two and I’m still experiencing symptoms but I’m slowly coming out of it.” 

44.6 percent of college students in the United States contracted either a cold or flu-like illness by fall in 2023, according to an American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment.

Though a hallmark of the start of the semester, several students highlighted the negative impacts of the “Yague” on their academic, social and personal lives.

“I got sick [with the Yague] about two weeks ago,” said Ameya Rastogi ’28. “I had a bad cough, runny nose and headache. I wasn’t able to socialize well, and academically, I fell behind on my work.”

While many students who spoke to the News assumed the “Yague” to be a mild cold or viral flu, in explaining the phenomenon, Wilson shares that most infections are likely to be COVID-19. While Yale does not have diagnostic details on all viruses causing cold-like symptoms, Wilson wrote that flu is not yet circulating. 

Clinical lab testing for Influenza A shows low infection rates according to the U.S. ​​Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Sept. 6, whereas COVID-19 viral activity in wastewater testing in Connecticut is high. 

Yale no longer requires regular testing for COVID-19 per CDC recommendations. 

According to Jessica Tuan, an assistant professor of medicine in the infectious diseases department at the Yale School of Medicine, the rise in COVID-19 at Yale is consistent with a nationwide wave of cases over the summer.

“There has been an overall uptrend in COVID-19 rates—well above last year’s COVID-19 positivity rates—in the past several months, with a plateauing in more recent weeks. COVID-19 test positivity has overall increased to 16.3%, with 4.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 population,” Tuan wrote in an email to the News.

In explaining the reasons for such a rise, Tuan cited the impact of waning immunity due to the time elapsed between booster shots.

Tuan also added that the arrival of newer variants, notably the predominant Omicron variant KP.3.1.1., is a contributing factor to the uptrend in COVID-19 rates.

“Newer variants seem to be more infectious and better able to evade immune responses induced from either natural infection or COVID-19 vaccines that were given in the last season,” Tuan wrote.

Free, updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines are currently available to all Yale Health members. In campus-wide emails sent to the student body on Aug. 28 and Sept. 5, Wilson strongly recommends that students and staff receive updated flu and COVID-19 booster shots to protect themselves.

Masking, social distancing and hand washing could further reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Flu clinics begin on Sept. 11, 2024.