You and me both, @bossyheifer - and consider that these are old (rerun) comics! Maybe 8 years old, if I’m remembering the timing of the preteena strip that was a Sept 11th one-year-later commemoration.
All this vomiting, it probably ain’t the flu, but gastroenteritis - sometimes called “stomach flu” but not the same as the influenza that vaccinations target. Or food poisoning - see what happens when you don’t let Grandma cook adventurous, or with eggplant!
Remember, we’re talking high school advanced English - they probably don’t care where the author is from (especially whenever this was originally drawn). They just read whatever is The Canon for that grade level.
Maybe Val’s job has a top secret security clearance, and nothing is allowed to leave the building…. yeah, right!