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Andrew Brennan
Issue date: 10/29/09
10/29/09 - University of Rhode Island Director of Health Services Chad Henderson said Tuesday that there were about seven confirmed cases of H1N1 flu this semester.
"We have sent less than 20 specimens to the state health department" for testing, Henderson said, "and of those, about one-third have come back positive for H1N1."
However, only three specimens are sent to the state labs a week, to prevent the labs from becoming overwhelmed, and the actual number of students with H1N1 is likely higher.
Henderson said that of the roughly 5,600 students who have come through the doors of Health Services since the semester began, about 125 reported they had flu-like symptoms, which include a fever at or above 100 degrees, and either a cough or sore throat.
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According to the American College Health Association, in the week ending Oct. 23, colleges in Rhode Island had reported 94 new cases of flu-like illness, compared to 196 in Massachusetts and 106 in Connecticut.
URI hasn't had a large outbreak compared to other schools; Henderson said that Bates College in Maine had an outbreak of 1,700 students, 250 of which were confirmed by lab tests to have H1N1.
-snip-
Henderson said he expects Health Services to receive the vaccine in early to mid-December.
Issue date: 10/29/09
10/29/09 - University of Rhode Island Director of Health Services Chad Henderson said Tuesday that there were about seven confirmed cases of H1N1 flu this semester.
"We have sent less than 20 specimens to the state health department" for testing, Henderson said, "and of those, about one-third have come back positive for H1N1."
However, only three specimens are sent to the state labs a week, to prevent the labs from becoming overwhelmed, and the actual number of students with H1N1 is likely higher.
Henderson said that of the roughly 5,600 students who have come through the doors of Health Services since the semester began, about 125 reported they had flu-like symptoms, which include a fever at or above 100 degrees, and either a cough or sore throat.
-snip-
According to the American College Health Association, in the week ending Oct. 23, colleges in Rhode Island had reported 94 new cases of flu-like illness, compared to 196 in Massachusetts and 106 in Connecticut.
URI hasn't had a large outbreak compared to other schools; Henderson said that Bates College in Maine had an outbreak of 1,700 students, 250 of which were confirmed by lab tests to have H1N1.
-snip-
Henderson said he expects Health Services to receive the vaccine in early to mid-December.
