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The Spectator
Hamilton Hit by H1N1 Outbreak
by Eloise Walter '11News Writer
and Thomas Yarnell '10
News Editor
November 06, 2009
The swine flu hit Hamilton on Monday, Oct. 26, when an influx of students showing flu-like symptoms filled every available time slot at the Thomas Brown Rudd Health Center. Every day since then, the Health Center has received calls from between 100 and 200 students experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Due to time and staffing constraints, the Health Center could only see up to 60 students per day. By Thursday, Oct. 29, about 10 to 20 percent of the student body was experiencing flu-like symptoms.
The rate of new reported cases has gone down significantly since then, and given that H1N1 symptoms generally last about four days, many students have already recovered. Still, the College expects a steady stream of cases for the rest of the year.
Hamilton is following the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) guidelines concerning how to treat students with symptoms of H1N1, in addition to monitoring updates from the Oneida County Health Department and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH).
Both Health Center staff and the Hamilton Emergency Response Team (HERT) have been meeting frequently to determine aspects such as what the College needs to provide in terms of housing, food and classes, and how to best keep the student body informed and updated.
In September, the College saw its first case of flu-like symptoms and quickly quarantined and tested the individual. Since then, because of the prevalence of the virus and its relatively mild symptoms, the CDC no longer advises isolation and testing for every case.
According to Director of Student Health Services Christine Merritt, the CDC must evaluate all H1N1 tests. The CDC is currently taking two specimens per county per month, most of them from already hospitalized patients.
The Health Center's new policy is based on an assessment of the symptomatic individual. Due to the Health Center's limited number of time slots, students with flu-like symptoms are only screened with a series of questions and treated accordingly.
Those with a fever lasting over three days will be given a physical exam and the Health Center pays special attention to students with already existing conditions or complications. Students with diabetes or asthma should contact the Health Center immediately should they start experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Students have been taking extra precautions to avoid getting sick, and those who have already contracted the illness have taken extra care to isolate themselves from the greater campus community.
Suzannah Chatlos '10 came down with the flu last week, and she said she knew what to do when she got sick: call the Health Center for advice. They told her not attend class until she was fever and symptom free for 24 hours.
"I in no way felt pressure to attend classes anyway for fear of being penalized," Chatlos said concerning the Health Center's advice, "but I did feel self-induced pressure because I knew I had a lot of work to do and because I was bored out of my mind in my room."
Tom Williams '11 agreed: "I didn't feel any pressure to attend class [when I was sick]. My professors were all very understanding and either told me what work I had from class [or] what work I could do while sick."
Other students left campus for a few days to stay away from their friends who were getting sick as the virus spread all over campus. "I was home for five days [to avoid getting sick] and got both vaccines on the second day I was home," said a student with a preexisting condition. "They said it takes 10-14 days to become fully active in your system, but I came back because I did not want to miss more class."
The Health Center is stocked with reusable thermometers, facemasks and medicine packets, which are available to students. Those with a temperature above 100 degrees should not return to class until they have been fever-free for over 24 hours without medication.
In the meantime, the CDC recommends practicing self-isolation and social distancing (staying six feet away from all roommates and peers). Merritt said that the most important part of recovery is getting plenty of sleep and constant hydration.
To prevent more cases, the College has ordered enough doses of the H1N1 vaccine for every student (around 1,900). However, large amounts of the vaccine will not arrive in New York until mid-November, and the Health Center has no way of determining when exactly it will receive the vaccine, nor how many doses it will receive. It is possible that the Health Center could receive significantly fewer than 1,900 doses.
Hamilton was supposed to receive the vaccines last Thursday, but the CDC has not yet approved the order. The Health Center is contacting the NYSDH on a regular basis to check on the status of the order.
In the mean time, Dean of Students Nancy Thompson encourages students to practice good hygiene, such as frequent hand washing. There will be a seasonal (not H1N1) flu shot clinic today at the Health Center from 4 to 6 p.m. Doses will be administered on a first come first serve basis for a $15 fee that will be applied to students' tuition bills.
More information and updates can be found at http://www.hamilton.edu/SwineFlu
News Editor Russ Doubleday contributed reporting to this article.