H1N1 cases confirmed in Indiana universities, colleges
By: Kaitlin Klose
Issue date: 9/25/09 Section: News
The H1N1 influenza pandemic is scaring colleges and college students across the state, but the illness has yet to reach DePauw's campus this fall.
But other schools in the surrounding areas have seen the illness. At Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. there have been several confirmed cases.
Jeanne Norberg, the spokesperson for Purdue, said that they had 27 confirmed cases.
"We are reporting all of our 271 cases of all types of flu since it is not time for the seasonal flu yet," Norberg said. Purdue tested 166 out of 271 samples at least once. Twenty-three of the initial samples were positive for type A, a family for the H1N1 virus. Norberg said 37 other samples of the 166 were sent in for H1N1 testing and 27 were positive.
Indiana State University, in Terre Haute, Ind., has not had any confirmed cases, but remains wary about the flu.
"We have no verification of it," said Bridget Gaddis, director of the student health center at Indiana State. "We had one positive test and we sent him home a week and a half ago."
Like most other colleges, Indiana State has put up a downloadable PDF file on their home Web site that discusses the virus and gives advice on what to do when people suspect they may have the influenza.
"Our main focus has been on education," Gaddis said.
Wabash College in Crawfordsville and Ball State University in Muncie do not have any confirmed cases. Spokespeople for the schools said confirmations will be put up on the homepages of their Web sites.
Doug Ehmen, the public health coordinator of the Putnam County Health Department, said there have not been any reported cases this fall. He attributed this reduction in confirmed cases to less frequent surveillance of the virus.
"What I want to stress is part of the surveillance right now is that very few people are being tested," Ehmen said. "The state doesn't have the capacity to test all these people."
Sentinel physician sites are scattered throughout the state for confirming cases of the influenza. Most sites are major hospitals. DePauw and the Greencastle community do not have a site.
Ehmen stressed that if someone has a fever of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, an indicator of H1N1, that person should not go to school or work, and should wait at least 24 hours for their symptoms to disappear completely.
Ehmen said the H1N1 vaccine will be sent to Indiana soon.
"They should start to trickle in the middle of October," he said. "We're not anticipating a shortage and we may vastly exceed the need."
DePauw is continuing efforts to update their students on the progression of the illness and the vaccine. All emergencies will be conveyed through e-mail and text messaging to the staff, faculty and students. More information about the H1N1 virus can be found on DePauw's Web site: www.depauw.edu/student/health/influenza.
But other schools in the surrounding areas have seen the illness. At Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. there have been several confirmed cases.
Jeanne Norberg, the spokesperson for Purdue, said that they had 27 confirmed cases.
"We are reporting all of our 271 cases of all types of flu since it is not time for the seasonal flu yet," Norberg said. Purdue tested 166 out of 271 samples at least once. Twenty-three of the initial samples were positive for type A, a family for the H1N1 virus. Norberg said 37 other samples of the 166 were sent in for H1N1 testing and 27 were positive.
Indiana State University, in Terre Haute, Ind., has not had any confirmed cases, but remains wary about the flu.
"We have no verification of it," said Bridget Gaddis, director of the student health center at Indiana State. "We had one positive test and we sent him home a week and a half ago."
Like most other colleges, Indiana State has put up a downloadable PDF file on their home Web site that discusses the virus and gives advice on what to do when people suspect they may have the influenza.
"Our main focus has been on education," Gaddis said.
Wabash College in Crawfordsville and Ball State University in Muncie do not have any confirmed cases. Spokespeople for the schools said confirmations will be put up on the homepages of their Web sites.
Doug Ehmen, the public health coordinator of the Putnam County Health Department, said there have not been any reported cases this fall. He attributed this reduction in confirmed cases to less frequent surveillance of the virus.
"What I want to stress is part of the surveillance right now is that very few people are being tested," Ehmen said. "The state doesn't have the capacity to test all these people."
Sentinel physician sites are scattered throughout the state for confirming cases of the influenza. Most sites are major hospitals. DePauw and the Greencastle community do not have a site.
Ehmen stressed that if someone has a fever of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, an indicator of H1N1, that person should not go to school or work, and should wait at least 24 hours for their symptoms to disappear completely.
Ehmen said the H1N1 vaccine will be sent to Indiana soon.
"They should start to trickle in the middle of October," he said. "We're not anticipating a shortage and we may vastly exceed the need."
DePauw is continuing efforts to update their students on the progression of the illness and the vaccine. All emergencies will be conveyed through e-mail and text messaging to the staff, faculty and students. More information about the H1N1 virus can be found on DePauw's Web site: www.depauw.edu/student/health/influenza.
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