Aug 27, 2009 5:28 pm US/Central
College Students Urged To Be Ready For H1N1
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Swine flu is a real concern for parents whose kids are headed off to college. Doctors say those students are at the most risk, but there are things you and the schools can do to avoid the H1N1 virus, CBS station WCBS-TV reports.
It's move-in day at Seton Hall University. Betty Torres, whose son Ricardo is an incoming freshman at the school, has warned Ricardo about the swine flu.
"I think in the back of his mind he thinks it's too much," she said.
And he seems to agree.
"I think if you just stay clean, be careful of the other people you're around, you'll be all right," he said.
But infectious disease expert Dr. Tracy Zivin-Tutela of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital says college students are the most at-risk for the H1N1 virus.
"They live in close quarters, they typically share utensils, drinks, so on, so forth. Their classrooms are relatively small with a large amount of people," she said.
Think about it: college is basically a place where hundreds of young people push elevator buttons, turn doorknobs, share desks, tables, chairs, banisters, even light switches – any one of which can transmit viruses to others.
Seton Hall is taking extra precautions.
"We are installing sanitizers at the entrance to all the buildings and we are handing out the samples of Purel to all the students," said Dr. Joan Osthues, Director of Health Services at the schoo.
In addition to good hygiene, the Centers for Disease Control recommends that schools:
- Discourage campus visits by ill persons.
- Frequently clean high-touch surfaces.
- Provide wipes for students (to wipe down keyboards, etc.)
- Increase distances between students (by moving desks apart)
- Suspend or modify public events (such as films, sporting events, or ceremonies)
Dr. Zivin-Tutela says once parents return home, students will have to monitor their own health.
"The other thing is they don't have the parental supervision to say, 'Oh, you have a fever. You have a cough. Maybe you should stay home,'" she said.
Thanks to her mom, freshman Tiffany Robinson packed a little extra common sense this semester.
"I always carry hand sanitizer in my pocketbook," she said.
What has experts most concerned is we might be seeing a double whammy of flu this year, with H1N1 hitting at the same time the regular seasonal flu arrives.
Those two viruses together means every age group is at risk.
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