Universities wrestle with influenza, student body

By Stone Irvin

This school year administrators are adjusting to the strains caused not by schoolwork but the virus H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, by exposing students to an array of sanitary practices to prevent the disease’s spread.

Georgia is listed on the Centers for Disease Control Web site as one of six states reporting widespread influenza activity. Kathryn Moss, the executive administrative assistant of campus life at Emory University, sent an e-mail to students and their parents that listed Georgia as the No. 1 state in the nation for reported H1N1 cases.

Liz Rachun, health communications coordinator for the University of Georgia Health Center, said that as of Sept. 8, 285 cases of swine flu have been diagnosed on campus. But Rachun also pointed out that the virus is not hitting students as hard as once expected.

“A lot of students aren’t coming in because they don’t need to,” she said.

She stressed that over-the-counter medicines like ibuprofen combined with judicious rest are the best remedy for swine flu.

“The good thing is it’s not as aggressive or virulent as other strains of flu,” said Dr. Christopher Whalen, professor of epidemiology at the University of Georgia. But while swine flu may be mild compared to some strains of influenza this fact has not stopped schools from working to hinder its flow.

The most obvious measure universities are taking to halt H1N1 is the promotion of CDC guidelines for keeping healthy. Because of these campaigns to reach students, most now know to cover up coughs and sneezes, avoid touching the eyes and nose, wash their hands regularly and stay home if feeling sick.

Additional measures include self-isolation dormitories to accommodate sick students. The University of Georgia temporarily used Family and Graduate Housing for this purpose but has decided to focus more on encouraging sanitary practices in students instead. Emory, on the other hand, has continued to use its self-isolation dorm.

“It’s voluntary, and everyone has taken us up on it,” said Bridget Riordan, dean of students and campus life at Emory. She said the Turman South dormitory, though due to be demolished, was kept open by the administration in case it was needed to accommodate students sick with swine flu.

“I’m from Bombay, India so going home wasn’t really an option for me,” said Simran Khosa, an English major at Emory who contracted swine flu early in the semester. She said Turman South was a good environment to recover from H1N1 because it was “not a hospital, it was like any other dorm.”

While Riordan counts Emory fortunate for having a dorm available for self-isolation, especially for students like Khosa who are unable to go home to recover, Whalen and Rachun both said that UGA is too large a school for a self-isolation dorm to be effective.

“Isolating 100 people like that might make a difference but it wouldn’t be my priority,” Whalen said. He also said that the guidelines for cleanliness should be enough to curb transmission of swine flu.

But while H1N1 has thus far proven less virulent than once feared, complications and questions about seasonal flu and are now being raised.

“The question on my mind,” Whalen said “is whether it’s possible to get H1N1 in September and turn around and get seasonal flu in January.”

This question has administrators taking precautions on the issue of seasonal flu vaccine. Rachun pointed out that getting seasonal flu vaccines too early can render the recipient vulnerable in January and February, the peak time for catching seasonal influenza. Nevertheless, Emory and UGA are strongly encouraging students to get immunized.

“We started [seasonal] flu vaccination today,” Riordan said Tuesday, “We’re saying ‘Come one, come all; get your flu vaccination today.’”

Edited by Lauren Bellamy