Spring Break
The Daily OrangeUniversity readies for swine flu
By Sara Tracey
Posted: 9/9/09, 1:29 AM EST Section: News
Shawn Ward has been coughing for two days. He doesn't believe he has swine flu, but he knows that it's likely in someone like himself - a college student.
"I read in the news that in Washington (State University), there were a bunch of outbreaks," said Ward, a sophomore music education major. "With a campus as big as ours, I'm surprised that we haven't had the same thing. One student can get it, and then it becomes a pandemic."
Syracuse University has diagnosed only three people with H1N1 symptoms as of Monday. James Jacobs, director of Health Services, said the number of preparations SU has made for the virus, so far, played a role in the small number of cases on campus.
"We've sent e-mails; we've told teachers to put information about the virus on their syllabi," Jacobs said. "We're trying to make sure that everyone on campus knows about the severity of the virus."
Unlike the regular influenza virus, young adults are more susceptible to H1N1 than small children and senior citizens, said Ernest Hemphill, a microbiology professor at SU. This makes a college setting favorable for the spread of the virus, he said.
Washington State University recently reported 2,000 students with influenza-like symptoms, one of the largest outbreaks this year at a university. Cornell University has also seen signs of the virus in more than 200 students, including one who had to be hospitalized.
People have become increasingly nervous about this strain of the virus, as opposed to others, because the virus' trajectory is similar to the worldwide H1N1 outbreak in 1917. That virus led to an estimated 50 million deaths in 1917 and 1918.
SU Health Services will begin administering free seasonal flu shots this Friday, Jacobs said.
Though an H1N1 vaccine will eventually be made available to the university by the federal government, the amount of vaccines, and when SU would receive them, is currently unknown, Jacobs said.
SU has started putting together "flu packs" for the few students that have shown H1N1 virus symptoms. Other universities are making similar packages available, which include pain relievers and masks to cover the mouth and nose.
"I read in the news that in Washington (State University), there were a bunch of outbreaks," said Ward, a sophomore music education major. "With a campus as big as ours, I'm surprised that we haven't had the same thing. One student can get it, and then it becomes a pandemic."
Syracuse University has diagnosed only three people with H1N1 symptoms as of Monday. James Jacobs, director of Health Services, said the number of preparations SU has made for the virus, so far, played a role in the small number of cases on campus.
"We've sent e-mails; we've told teachers to put information about the virus on their syllabi," Jacobs said. "We're trying to make sure that everyone on campus knows about the severity of the virus."
Unlike the regular influenza virus, young adults are more susceptible to H1N1 than small children and senior citizens, said Ernest Hemphill, a microbiology professor at SU. This makes a college setting favorable for the spread of the virus, he said.
Washington State University recently reported 2,000 students with influenza-like symptoms, one of the largest outbreaks this year at a university. Cornell University has also seen signs of the virus in more than 200 students, including one who had to be hospitalized.
People have become increasingly nervous about this strain of the virus, as opposed to others, because the virus' trajectory is similar to the worldwide H1N1 outbreak in 1917. That virus led to an estimated 50 million deaths in 1917 and 1918.
SU Health Services will begin administering free seasonal flu shots this Friday, Jacobs said.
Though an H1N1 vaccine will eventually be made available to the university by the federal government, the amount of vaccines, and when SU would receive them, is currently unknown, Jacobs said.
SU has started putting together "flu packs" for the few students that have shown H1N1 virus symptoms. Other universities are making similar packages available, which include pain relievers and masks to cover the mouth and nose.
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