4 Ohio colleges cope with A/H1N1 outbreaks (Clusters)

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.fox8.com/news/sns-ap-oh--swineflu-ohiocolleges,0,3147173.story

4 Ohio colleges cope with swine flu outbreaks, canceling events and asking the sick to lay low

By Associated Press

6:24 AM EDT, September 2, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? With the fall term just getting under way at Ohio colleges, state health officials say four schools have already reported clusters of swine flu.

The Ohio Department of Health says most cases at Miami, Xavier and Cedarville Universities and at the University of Cincinnati have been mild.

Xavier has canceled large gatherings through Labor Day because of 110 suspected flu cases on its Cincinnati campus.

Miami is telling sick students to keep to their rooms and wear face masks when meals are brought to them. The Oxford school has reported 69 cases.

Smaller numbers have cropped up at Cedarville, near Dayton, and at Cincinnati.

Some Ohio colleges are preparing isolation areas for ailing students and are installing hand sanitizer stations.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com

 

[hawkeye]

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CLUSTERS AT FOUR OHIO SCHOOLS

Quick emergence of swine flu puts colleges on alert

By Suzanne Hoholik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this story.