Posted on 09/02/2009 4:15:42 AM PDT by EBH
Universities and public-school districts spent the summer preparing for swine flu.
For some colleges, however, the virus popped up sooner than expected.
Four Ohio schools -- Miami, Xavier, Cedarville and Cincinnati -- have cluster cases of the flu, according to state health officials.
"We knew we were going to see it, but to have it happen so quickly surprised us a little bit," said Debora del Valle, spokeswoman for Xavier.
The Cincinnati school has 110 suspected flu cases and canceled large events through Labor Day.
No cases have been reported by Ohio public-school districts.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama urged Americans to prepare for a potentially deadly outbreak of swine flu and to take steps to prevent infection. A vaccine is being developed and likely will be available by October. He said the government will "strongly recommend" that people get it.
Ohio Department of Health officials have stopped testing individual cases to confirm swine flu unless the person meets specific criteria. So university officials assume that all suspected cases, most of which have been mild, are swine flu.
All are following guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Posters have been placed on campuses to remind students to wash their hands, cough into their arms and stay away from classes if they're sick. Some schools have placed hand sanitizer at dorm entrances and classroom buildings.
Some colleges have created isolation areas for ill students who can't go home.
The lower level of the alumni center at Xavier is being used as a recovery area for as many as 45 infected students. There are cots, locker rooms with showers and Internet access. Food is delivered.
Cedarville University in Greene County has about 60 flu cases. Students are told they can go home, stay in their dorm rooms or use empty apartments as isolation areas, said spokesman John Davis.
Ohio University in Athens, which starts classes next week, has designated 25 medical rooms in dorms for as many as 50 students, said David Hopka, assistant vice president of safety and risk management.
If those fill up, officials plan to use one floor of a dorm -- about 34 rooms -- to house additional sick students.
At Miami in Oxford, 69 flu cases have been reported, said Claire Wagner, university spokeswoman. Ill students are told to stay in their rooms and wear masks when their roommates deliver meals.
There are two flu cases at Cincinnati, which starts Sept. 23. Students are being told to stay home if they have flu symptoms.
"If you're showing symptoms, you don't belong here. That's how it spreads," said Greg Hand, university spokesman.
Instructors at the universities have been told to adjust their absence policies. In some cases, the names of sick students are passed on to instructors.
Parents sending their children to college should talk with them about good hygiene and make sure they recognize flu symptoms, said Debbie Coleman, Columbus' assistant health commissioner.
She suggests packing hand sanitizer, a thermometer, cough syrup and fever reducer in the student's belongings.
Columbus City Schools students took home letters yesterday reminding parents how to stop the spread of flu and to have a plan if their child is sick and needs to stay home.
"Our goal is to keep the healthy kids in school and the sick at home," Coleman said.
Ping!
Isn't that illegal according to the patient right laws? What would happen to a hospital if they published the names of their patients?
I'd carry my own and be judicious with its use. You have to touch the dispenser, which is presumably done by many others. Repeated use and over use of the alcohol based sanitizers can dry out and crack your skin, making you more susceptible to infection. Ironic, huh?
Good point. If you don’t have your kid sign the release papers when they register, you’ll NEVER get any health information about them from the university. The universities are over-the-top in this area. But now they are weighing privacy vs. public health and throwing privacy under the bus. I think they are making the right decision here.
It isn't clear who is passing the names of sick students. If the info comes from another student or a parent, then I don't think that would be against the law.
Overdoing cleanliness is now viewed by some researchers as a bad idea. Kids need to be exposed to dirt, germs, sick people, etc. to build up immunities.
Some speculate that increases in allergies may be caused by the child being too clean when young.
In a deadly illness situation, though, I would go with cleanliness.
As a kid, I made pigs look dirty. I swam in Lake Erie 50 years ago and since it didn’t kill me, it made me stronger. We live right next to a sewage plant discharge. During heavy rains, it couldn’t handle the volume and it went into the lake. When it stopped raining, my friends and I swam in it. Yummy! Just push those turds out of the way.
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