Quarantine ends; no swine flu found
By: Samuel Weigley
Issue date: 5/5/09 Section: News
With all the attention about swine flu in the media, students on campus may be able to take a deep breath and relax for now.
According to Dr. Scott Ripple of the Wellness Center, all students who were quarantined on campus last week for flu symptoms have been released. As of last Wednesday, five people tested positive for the flu. All five test results were turned over to the Indiana State Department of Health and all of the tests came back negative for the swine flu. Students in isolation were released after they were free of symptoms for at least 24 hours.
One of the students quarantined was sophomore Tracey Dewland. Last week, she went to the Wellness Center complaining of flu like symptoms. She ended up taking a flu test, and the results came back positive for the flu. Almost immediately, a staffer from the Office of Residence Life and Housing came over to the Wellness Center to give her a key to Bloomington Street Hall. She then packed up her stuff from her room in Alpha Chi Omega sorority and moved into a single dormitory in Bloomington Street Hall.
From Tuesday night through Friday morning, Dewland did not leave Bloomington Street. Hub employees delivered food to her twice per day, and nurses frequently came to check on her condition. Whenever she came into contact with other people, she had to wear a mask, as did the University employees who were taking care of her.
"It was kind of intimidating when everyone is wearing a mask, and you are wearing a mask," Dewland said.
Dewland said she tried to do some work for her classes, but that she felt too ill to be extremely productive. She e-mailed all of her professors, and they were very understanding of her situation. While she says she has a lot of make-up work to complete, she notes that professors have been mostly reviewing, which means that she has not missed a lot of new material.
Thursday morning Dewland met with Rebecca Alton, the physician's assistant for the Wellness Center. After confirming that Dewland's flu symptoms were absent, Alton allowed Dewland to be released that next morning.
Ripple believes that despite the hardships that the ill students may have experienced, the decision to isolate students was necessary.
"Given the information we had last week, I feel confident that we acted appropriately," Ripple said.
Dewland agreed.
"When people talk about quarantine, people think it is something scary," Dewland said. "But the University is just taking precautions, and they handled the situation promptly and maturely. Living in a sorority house, I didn't want to get everyone sick. And living in isolation made recovery much quicker."
According to Dr. Scott Ripple of the Wellness Center, all students who were quarantined on campus last week for flu symptoms have been released. As of last Wednesday, five people tested positive for the flu. All five test results were turned over to the Indiana State Department of Health and all of the tests came back negative for the swine flu. Students in isolation were released after they were free of symptoms for at least 24 hours.
One of the students quarantined was sophomore Tracey Dewland. Last week, she went to the Wellness Center complaining of flu like symptoms. She ended up taking a flu test, and the results came back positive for the flu. Almost immediately, a staffer from the Office of Residence Life and Housing came over to the Wellness Center to give her a key to Bloomington Street Hall. She then packed up her stuff from her room in Alpha Chi Omega sorority and moved into a single dormitory in Bloomington Street Hall.
From Tuesday night through Friday morning, Dewland did not leave Bloomington Street. Hub employees delivered food to her twice per day, and nurses frequently came to check on her condition. Whenever she came into contact with other people, she had to wear a mask, as did the University employees who were taking care of her.
"It was kind of intimidating when everyone is wearing a mask, and you are wearing a mask," Dewland said.
Dewland said she tried to do some work for her classes, but that she felt too ill to be extremely productive. She e-mailed all of her professors, and they were very understanding of her situation. While she says she has a lot of make-up work to complete, she notes that professors have been mostly reviewing, which means that she has not missed a lot of new material.
Thursday morning Dewland met with Rebecca Alton, the physician's assistant for the Wellness Center. After confirming that Dewland's flu symptoms were absent, Alton allowed Dewland to be released that next morning.
Ripple believes that despite the hardships that the ill students may have experienced, the decision to isolate students was necessary.
"Given the information we had last week, I feel confident that we acted appropriately," Ripple said.
Dewland agreed.
"When people talk about quarantine, people think it is something scary," Dewland said. "But the University is just taking precautions, and they handled the situation promptly and maturely. Living in a sorority house, I didn't want to get everyone sick. And living in isolation made recovery much quicker."
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