A contagious effort

MSU students and employees illustrate ways to prevent the spread of swine flu including covering your mouth while sneezing or coughing, wearing gloves while preparing food for others, not sharing drinks and washing hands frequently

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Empty classrooms, deserted hallways, quiet dorms and a campus shutdown all are things MSU and Ingham County officials are trying to avoid as they plan and prepare for possible outbreaks of the swine flu.

The H1N1 virus, more commonly known as the swine flu, has been hitting college campuses throughout the country, sparking a race to plan for worst-case scenarios, such as pandemics.

MSU is one of several institutions to develop a set of plans to combat possible outbreaks of the flu, and although there are reported cases of H1N1 in other states, it seems to have avoided a possible hit near here — that is, at least for now.

Change of plans

MSU has a pandemic plan in place to address possible outbreaks at the university.

“We’ve got a pandemic planning group that has continued to monitor the H1N1 since it started,” university spokesman Kent Cassella said. “(We) have an adjusted plan ready to go here in the fall.”

The MSU plan will make sure health care providers have supplies and protocols in place to deal with any flu cases, which MSU has not experienced this fall.

“The best we can do … is monitor the impact any kind of flu-like illness is having on the institution,” Cassella said. “Right now, we’re not seeing anything unusual.”

Environments, such as universities, are more vulnerable to the spread of sickness, said Robert Winfield, director of the University Health Service and chief health officer for the University of Michigan.

“Any places that have a lot of people close together appear to be vulnerable … to easy transmission from person to person, including colleges (and) residence halls,” he said.

The state is not specifically testing for swine flu, which can make numbers of reported cases confusing, MSU University Physician Beth Alexander said.

“We’re now hearing stories of widespread cases in (college campuses),” she said. “People don’t test and don’t treat unless it’s a person who’s getting sicker and sicker. … We really don’t know that all of the people coming in with a respiratory illness (have) swine flu, but it’s getting reported that there are outbreaks of it when we don’t really know for sure.”

E-mails have been sent to students, parents and faculty and staff to inform about swine flu and to provide information on how to prevent possible cases.

Ross Emmett, an associate professor at James Madison College, said he worries about the effect large outbreaks would have on class attendance, but a somewhat flexible schedule might alleviate the problem.

“If there’s a really big epidemic on campus we’ll just assume that we have had to deal with classes for two weeks … in some different way … adjust things and move on,” he said.

Campuswide, countywide

Residence halls plan on working with students who come down with any flu-like symptoms, such as directly providing meals to rooms if students are unable to travel to the cafeterias.

“We are not in the business of diagnosing,” Residence Life Director Paul Goldblatt said. “What we would do is provide some resources for students.”

Dining halls also are experiencing changes to limit the spread of swine flu.

“We have switched to a more full-service style,” said Bruce Haskell, associate director of the Department of Residential Dining. “One of the big changes (was) we had to try and limit some of the exposure to cross-contamination.”

Hand sanitizers are available at dining locations and hand washing is stressed, he said.

Actions taken by the university to prevent outbreaks of H1N1 are understandable, journalism sophomore Cara Boyer said.

“I’m not too concerned about getting the swine flu,” she said. “I don’t really think (administrators are) really taking it to an extreme, they’re just kind of trying to caution students to prepare them.”

Ingham County is working on a plan to fight the flu with help from area physicians, said Christine Hendrickson, the health educator-emergency preparedness with the Ingham County Health Department.

“(We’re) discussing how as a community we can come together to fight H1N1 from each of our respective areas that we work in,” she said.

Caught by surprise

Despite its name, the swine flu does not originate in pigs, Alexander said.

The influenza can be caught by coming in contact with respiratory droplets spread by coughing, sneezing and sharing utensils, among other things, she said.

“This is the flu,” Alexander said. “What’s caught the attention of the world … (is it) initially appeared to be a brand-new influenza strain. … It appears to be a little less severe than seasonal flu.”

Although the swine flu is another seasonal flu and might not be as severe as initially expected, precautions still should be taken, Hendrickson said.

“Because H1N1 is a new virus that we’re seeing there’s not immunity to it … we have to be cautious about it,” she said. “It has been mild so far. … A virus can mutate and we have to be prepared for if that virus mutates.”

The H1N1 vaccine is expected in October, Hendrickson said.

It will be distributed based on a priority list with pregnant women and health care providers at the top before the general public, Alexander said.

Students should take normal precautions to prevent sickness, such as staying home if they are sick, washing their hands, covering their mouths when coughing and sneezing and refraining from sharing utensils and drinks, university and county officials said.

“We’re in pretty good shape,” Haskell said. “I don’t think anyone knows how fast (and) where this is going to come from or go.”

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