By KATHERINE JOHNSON
DavidsonNews.net

Davidson College students returning to campus last week found the usual signs of a new school year – textbook sales, the annual Cake Race, and the anxious yet beaming faces of new freshmen.  But this year, there was more: hand sanitizer dispensers, face masks, and cautionary emails from school officials about the threat of the H1N1 virus.

Just a week into the semester, it’s clear it’s not just a threat: As of Wednesday, 23 students had tested positive for Type A flu, and college officials said it’s likely most are the H1N1 virus. Most years, the college health center sees no flu cases this early in the semester.

In getting the word out about H1N1, Davidson officials noted that its symptoms  are no more severe than typical seasonal flu, though it’s a highly contagious new variant.

Most college campuses nationwide are starting the new school year bracing for the pandemic, sometimes referred to as “swine flu.” Already, Wake Forest University has at least 80 suspected cases, 100 are suspected at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and 250 students with flu-like symptoms were reported at Mississippi State University, to name a few.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools also has issued alerts to parents about the virus and its procedures for dealing with it, including a telephone hotline.

Davidson College Health Center can test individuals for type A flu or type B flu.  Jan Poole, a nurse at the health center, said students who test positive for type A flu likely have the H1N1 virus. As of Wednesday, 23 students have tested positive for type A flu, most of whom were sick for 3-5 days.

The college has been taking precautions.  Tom Shandley, Dean of Students and vice president for student life, has sent a campus-wide email with information about the virus and prevention. He said H1N1 flu is “no more severe than the seasonal flu,” but since it is a new flu variant that young people are not immune to, it “will likely be widespread.”

The flu outbreak on the Davidson campus follows a rash of cases over the summer. In July, one-third of the 235 seventh- and eighth-graders attending a Davidson session of the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP) summer educational program on campus last July were sent home early with possible cases of H1N1 flu.

QUARANTINE

Besides making available hand sanitizer and face masks, the campus administration is taking additional steps to curb the flu’s spread. A former lounge in the senior apartment building “F” has been turned into a quarantine room. Students with H1N1 and seasonal flu are directed to stay there until 24 hours after their fevers break, when they are no longer contagious, in keeping with federal Centers for Diseasae Control guidelines.

Vail Commons Dining Hall will deliver meals to students who have been quarantined in order to minimize healthy students’ exposure to the flu. The college also has asked students who have tested positive for the flu or exhibited flu-like symptoms not to attend classes, though not all have heeded that request.

College officials hope help is on the way, in the form of a promised vaccine. Mr. Shandley said the college has “requested enough [H1N1] vaccine for the entire student body,” which will be administered by mid-October.

Vaccinations will be both free and voluntary, although students are being encouraged to get both the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told CNN’s “American Morning” on Wednesday that the H1N1 vaccine would require a booster shot, protecting recipients by Thanksgiving.

‘GET IT OVER WITH’

While starting off the semester with the flu may seem less than ideal to most people, at an academically intense school like Davidson, some students see the flu as inevitable, and think an early case might be a blessing.

Said Davidson senior Sarah Page Waugh: “I’d rather go ahead and get the swine flu now before I have a lot of homework!”

RELATED LINKS

Mecklenburg County H1N1 influenza information page, CLICK HERE>

Centers for Disease Control, “Swine Flu and You” page, CLICK HERE>

Davidson College web page, “Questions and Information About the Flu.”