Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSU continues precautions for swine flu
By Maria Qualtere
Posted: 5/6/09, 6:34 PM EST Section: News
Talk of H1N1 influenza, commonly known as swine flu, has raised concerns nationwide. Universities across the country have eliminated the traditional handshake from their commencement ceremonies, and local Syracuse schools have shut down due to confirmed cases.
With Syracuse University's graduation Sunday, and 25,000 people expected in the Carrier Dome, swine flu is still an ever-present concern. But Stacey Cibula, the program coordinator in public health preparedness at the Onondaga County Health Department, suggests sticking to simple advice.
"The necessary precautions are going to be your basic precautions," Cibula said. "Wash your hands a lot, cover your mouth when you cough, and stay home if you're not feeling well."
Cibula further explained that swine flue initially caused a lot of hype because it was new and unpredictable. As more information on the disease was released, Onondaga County has been able to treat it more like the average flu.
"You do what you do based on the information you have at the time," Cibula said. "At the time, there wasn't a lot of information, so it was better to be cautious."
Though New York has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the country, SU will still hold its traditional commencement ceremony, handshakes and all.
"It's really becoming a non-issue," said Susan Germain, director of the Office of Special Events. "But of course, we still have all precautions in place."
SU will have hand-sanitizing packets throughout the Dome for the ceremonies Sunday. "We're really looking forward to it running as usual as possible," Germain said.
Unlike SU, schools like including Northeastern University, Indiana University, Oklahoma State University and the University of Southern Florida have eliminated the handshake from their ceremony.
Though the Edward Smith School and the Fabius-Pompey High School and Elementary School in Syracuse closed after students were diagnosed with the swine flu, they reopened Wednesday. In an e-mail to SU students, Director of Health Services Jim Jacobs said the infected children in the Syracuse schools were linked to recent travel in Mexico and have fully recovered.
Seth Tucker, director of student assistance for the Division of Student Affairs at SU, has two children who attend the Ed Smith School. He said the school originally planned to close for two weeks, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new statement that any student who comes down with the flu should be at home and isolated for seven days.
Tucker said the university was very supportive while he and his wife juggled their work schedules when their kids were not in school.
SU also created a Web site to deal with swine flu and posted resources for SU employees to call if their work schedule interfered with taking care of children whose schools closed.
SU's swine flu Web site also includes links to general facts about the flu and different New York health departments' Web sites and advisories, as well as a message from Jacobs.
The information can be accessed at http://sunews.syr.edu/h1n1flu/index.html.
mequalte@syr.edu
With Syracuse University's graduation Sunday, and 25,000 people expected in the Carrier Dome, swine flu is still an ever-present concern. But Stacey Cibula, the program coordinator in public health preparedness at the Onondaga County Health Department, suggests sticking to simple advice.
"The necessary precautions are going to be your basic precautions," Cibula said. "Wash your hands a lot, cover your mouth when you cough, and stay home if you're not feeling well."
Cibula further explained that swine flue initially caused a lot of hype because it was new and unpredictable. As more information on the disease was released, Onondaga County has been able to treat it more like the average flu.
"You do what you do based on the information you have at the time," Cibula said. "At the time, there wasn't a lot of information, so it was better to be cautious."
Though New York has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the country, SU will still hold its traditional commencement ceremony, handshakes and all.
"It's really becoming a non-issue," said Susan Germain, director of the Office of Special Events. "But of course, we still have all precautions in place."
SU will have hand-sanitizing packets throughout the Dome for the ceremonies Sunday. "We're really looking forward to it running as usual as possible," Germain said.
Unlike SU, schools like including Northeastern University, Indiana University, Oklahoma State University and the University of Southern Florida have eliminated the handshake from their ceremony.
Though the Edward Smith School and the Fabius-Pompey High School and Elementary School in Syracuse closed after students were diagnosed with the swine flu, they reopened Wednesday. In an e-mail to SU students, Director of Health Services Jim Jacobs said the infected children in the Syracuse schools were linked to recent travel in Mexico and have fully recovered.
Seth Tucker, director of student assistance for the Division of Student Affairs at SU, has two children who attend the Ed Smith School. He said the school originally planned to close for two weeks, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new statement that any student who comes down with the flu should be at home and isolated for seven days.
Tucker said the university was very supportive while he and his wife juggled their work schedules when their kids were not in school.
SU also created a Web site to deal with swine flu and posted resources for SU employees to call if their work schedule interfered with taking care of children whose schools closed.
SU's swine flu Web site also includes links to general facts about the flu and different New York health departments' Web sites and advisories, as well as a message from Jacobs.
The information can be accessed at http://sunews.syr.edu/h1n1flu/index.html.
mequalte@syr.edu
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