All Posts Tagged With: "H1N1"
The students who cried swine flu
As universities urge sick students to stay away, some undergrads are faking H1N1
Thanks to H1N1, Section 16.8 of Dalhousie University’s Academic Regulations, regarding medical certificates in the case of illness (required to miss classes and assignments with no penalty incurred) has been modified. Since September, anyone with “flu-like symptoms” has been encouraged to stay far, far away from campus, no questions asked. It seems for now swine flu has killed the sick note at Dal. And other universities across the country have put similar policies into effect.
At first it seemed like a pure Godsend. Free to sign their own notes, students quickly expanded the definition of flu-like symptoms to include smoker’s cough, hangovers and an insatiable appetite for TLC’s Cake Boss. One Dal philosophy major has had the virus twice—once in Logic and once in Deduction—and is planning to contract it again before her Epistemology exam. “It’s supposed to come in waves,” she says.
Or not. Recently the University of Western Ontario started requiring infected students to enter their names into an online database, which could possibly red-flag multiple bouts of the flu. For students a new question loomed: how many times could they cry swine flu; and if they did malinger, what happened if they got the real thing?
Strangely, not much. John Doersken, vice provost in academic programs and students at UWO, maintains detecting fakes was never the reason for the database. “The system is in place so that we can provide our public health unit with data on how serious the pandemic is. We can tell on any given day how many students are away on influenza like illnesses.” Or at least, how many claim to be. There’s no telling, admits Doersken, how many students enter their names under false pretences.
And despite acknowledging that some students are likely using the pandemic for their own benefit, Susan Spence Wach, associate vice-president of academic programs at Dal, says their revised no-sick-note policy will remain in effect for now. “Our main concern is with flu prevention and the care of our student population.” In other words, having some people take advantage of the revised policy is better than what would occur if the policy were left unchanged. “People with flu-like symptoms,” says Spence Wach, “should not be going out to get sick notes. They should be at home.”
Though no official system is in place, data is also being collected at Dal, says Spence Wach: “On a weekly basis I get reports on student illness; only numbers, never names.”
So while it looks like students jumping on the H1N1 wagon won’t be facing any thorny disciplinary problems, they’re probably the contributing factors in some erroneous public health research—just another chapter in the swine flu fiasco. “For the most part, students aren’t abusing it,” says one Western undergrad, who prefers to remain anonymous. “However, I have heard of some students who are. Namely, myself and my roommates.”
Ontario to students: get H1N1 flu shot
College and university students are at a greater risk of infection
Ontario has launched a $650,000 “Join the Resistance” ad campaign to encourage college and university students to roll up their sleeves for the H1N1 flu shot. It has also given the go-ahead for companies to vaccinate employees in the workplace. Some workplace clinics could begin as early as next week at some locations in the province, officials said.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said Friday that almost half of those hospitalized in Ontario for swine flu are people under 20. Thirteen per cent of deaths in Ontario related to H1N1 have been in people under age 25.
However, historically only about 25 per cent of people aged 17 to 24 get a seasonal flu shot compared to about 45 to 50 per cent of the general population, Dr. Arlene King told a briefing. Yet college and university students are at a greater risk of transmitting the infection because they live and study in close proximity to each other in dormitory rooms and study halls, she said.
King cited statistics that 25,000 or more of every 100,000 people who are not immunized will get sick with the flu. Of those, 25 to 100 will need hospitalization, 20 to 50 will end up in intensive care with most of them needing ventilators, and six will die.
“People cannot afford to let their guard down,” said King. “Everyone, including healthy young people, need to protect themselves against this new flu virus and the best way to do that is to get their flu shot,” she said.
The Ontario government sent an “email blast” this week to 53 student associations targeting 400,000 students. It also sent posters aimed at students to public health units and is posting advertising on websites to drive students to clinic listings. Next month, ads will be put in bars and restaurants. An animated “Join the Resistance” ad will run in cinemas throughout Ontario during the holidays.
The campaign to convince students to get immunized comes as several health units have decided to close their mass vaccination clinics next month after seeing a drop in H1N1 activity and public demand for the swine flu shot. Fifty-three flu assessment centres have also closed, leaving just six open.
Health units will “clearly be looking over the next couple of weeks” to decide if they still need mass vaccination clinics, King said. But the vaccine is available at more than 4,500 doctors’ offices, family health teams, hospitals and community health clinics across the province, said King. Students have also been receiving the shots at some universities including the University of Ottawa and Brock University.
Why students should get the H1N1 vaccine
Set aside your invincibility complex and protect those around you
Yesterday, I started thinking about the H1N1 vaccine. The “swine flu” is something I’d only been sort of considering and only in the abstract. It would cross my consciousness now and then when I read a news report or saw a mass-mail email from Dalhousie in my Inbox. The news would filter in one ear and out the other. It felt far away, inconsequential. All of that ended this week when I found out that the swine flu has landed at my school.
Since we’re small, we often end up feeling separated from the outside world. As I learned today in a class from another student, H1N1 showed up at Dal residence in September. “It’s not a new thing,” she told me, in that patient tone I get a lot from Dal students.
I guess it’s not. We have been hearing about this full-blown pandemic since June when the WHO declared it. We’ve become experts at sneezing into arms and pumping the Purell as we traipse down the hall. And this month, we’ve started hearing about the hows and wheres and whens of the promised vaccine.
I never get the flu shot. Instead of getting the flu shot, I make fun of my friends who do get the yearly vaccine by telling them “Congratulations! You won’t get the flu last year”. Especially for young, healthy people like me, I have real questions about the efficacy of the usual flu vaccines. I think that this led to my blase attitude over the new H1N1 vaccine.
I’m not the only one lacking much motivation. Macleans.ca tells me that as the first wave has died down, so too has vaccine excitement:
A recent poll shows that, as of the first week of October, only one in three Canadians plan on getting the H1N1 vaccine, according to Harris/Decima. That’s down from 45 per cent in late August.
The picture the WHO painted for us seems sketchy now. A lot of people have been getting H1N1… and then recovering. People we even know. And now as cold and flu season sets in, we get… the normal cold. Where is this pandemic of appocalyptic proportions I was worried about? I don’t see it. So I stopped worrying.
When my degree of separation to H1N1 went from triple digits to single overnight, I woke up. There is more at stake then my health, or worse, my midterms. If I woke up tomorrow and realized that this head cold is actually H1N1, even if I immediately went into quarantine, I would have exposed a lot of people to my illness already: all of the people in all of my classes; all of the people I rode on the bus with; the little girl I met on the quad; the little old ladies at the church. My illness affects more people than just me.
When to stay home from school: Is it a cold, allergies or swine flu?
Sneezing or coughing might not be a big deal, but a fever is a red flag
In the face of a possible wave of H1N1 flu cases this fall, public health and education officials are encouraging parents and teachers to help stem the potential spread by keeping or sending students with flu-like symptoms home.
But should vigilance surrounding the pandemic virus mean having kids hunker down at the first mere sign of the sniffles? Not necessarily, says Saskatchewan’s deputy chief medical health officer.
Dr. Saqib Shahab says since September is a common time for dust allergies, individuals may experience a lot of sneezing, coughing and sore throat but no fever.
Generally, sneezes and a runny nose with clear discharge are more likely signs of an allergy, which isn’t infectious or contagious, or a non-influenza infection. Once you start getting a fever, that’s definitely a red flag, Shahab says.
“If your child has a definite fever, probably stay at home for the day or two that the fever takes to resolve,” he said from Regina. “It may be another influenza virus, it may be another respiratory virus. But especially once we see more H1N1 activity … that’s when really your child should not go to school if he has fever, sore throat or cough.”
Shahab said it may be difficult for some to make the distinction between symptoms. But for this year, he advises parents to play it safe.
“Generally in other years, if a child generally feels OK, even if he has a slight fever, the child may end up going to school,” he said. “What we’re requesting is that for this particular year, this fall, erring on the side of caution.”
“Parents whose children have allergies, they can usually just tell it’s just a recurrence of an allergy – lots of sneezing and runny nose and the itchiness of the eyes,” he added.
“We’re hoping that parents can make that distinction and keep the child home, especially when it’s sore throat, fever and cough, because these three are the most reliable indicators of H1N1.”
“Right now, the disease activity is low, but once we start seeing higher levels of disease activity, then with these three symptoms, we’re more likely to have pandemic H1N1 than something else.”
With two sons living with chronic asthma, Michelle Redway-Morris won’t hesitate to keep her kids home for a day or two if needed to allow time for their medications to work.
Schools fine-tune emergency plans in case of H1N1 outbreak
“The worst of part of any of these health crises is not the disease itself,” says doctor
As students stock up on school supplies and get ready to hit the books this fall, post-secondary institutions are making preparations of their own, fine-tuning their action plans in the event that swine flu cases surface on campus.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says that under the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan, all large institutions – including colleges and universities – are encouraged to have pandemic preparedness plans.
But when it comes to emergency planning, universities are hardly starting from scratch. In fact, many are tailoring existing strategies to address a potential flu outbreak and the possible ripple effects that could have an impact on school life.
Both Montreal’s McGill University and Simon Fraser University in British Columbia had much of their planning done to address another strain of flu – H5N1, or avian flu.
Dr. Pierre-Paul Tellier, director of student health services at McGill, said the university has been much more active since the H1N1 epidemic was observed in Mexico this past spring and later declared a pandemic.
Tellier said there are weekly planning meetings involving individuals representing various groups including human resources, student representatives and communications staff.
They are preparing documents to go out to students arriving in residence telling them what to do if there is an issue surrounding H1N1, how to take care of themselves and where to seek care. In addition, a website is being developed to provide information to students, parents and staff.
“The worst part of any of these health crises is not the disease itself,” said Tellier. “It’s really dealing with the population around who become very anxious and very stressed and that you have to … constantly clear up issues and matters on an ongoing basis, and that’s where a lot of your energy is spent.”
“If you’re able to prepare a lot of this ahead of time prior to an episode occurring… then it makes it easier.”
Part of the contingency planning also addresses what to do if faculty or staff are out of commission. Every unit is being asked to identify essential services and key individuals and to ensure they have trained backups for their positions, Tellier said. Professors are also being encouraged to record lectures or organize material for students to access if they can’t attend class, he said.
Apollonia Cifarelli, director of environmental health and safety at Simon Fraser University, said educating people on infection control has been their primary focus.
In addition to spreading the word about sneezing etiquette and proper hygiene techniques, they are encouraging faculty to do the same by providing information to students and making them aware of health services on campus.
Students in residence are being provided with personal containers of gel or sanitizer to further drive home the message about hygiene. Dorm leaders or community advisers would act as the eyes and ears of the floor and as a link to administration, providing updates if necessary if students get sick.
An area has been identified where those living on campus would be relocated if they fall ill. Cifarelli said it isn’t a quarantine, but rather an area where they can keep an eye on students and provide essential support.
“People are infectious two days before they show symptoms, so quarantining people is really not going to do a heck of a lot,” she said from Burnaby, B.C.
Medical care would fall to health services, but if symptoms are more severe, it might be recommended that students be transferred to a hospital, she said.
The university also has a mass communication system in place to send out messages by phone, email or text if necessary, although it is only put in use in the face of an imminent emergency, Cifarelli said.
“We are reminding people this is really, in essence, this is the flu – it’s the seasonal flu,” she added. “The main difference is that we have no vaccine for this flu at this point in time, and we do know that because younger people have not had a lot of time to develop immunities to viruses they might be more vulnerable.”
Swine flu prompts “social distancing” campaign at Dalhousie
Keep a one-metre distance from other students, says university
If Dalhousie University has its way, frosh week just won’t be the same this fall. Concern about swine flu is prompting school officials to tell students to keep their distance from one another, reports the CBC.
To keep H1N1, which has been to shown to strike young adults in particular, at bay, Dal is advising students to avoid shaking hands, hugging and kissing, and to hold meetings over the phone. Students however, remain skeptical that the “social distancing” campaign will keep them from hanging out with their friends.
Posters are going up around Dalhousie’s campus to remind students how to stay healthy.
Manufacturing ferment
For a real laugh, sometimes you have to stray from the comics. Yesterday, I found mine in The Globe and Mail’s Health & Fitness section. “How to talk to your kids about swine flu.” Gold. Yes, I’m being shortsighted. Yes, I’m being insensitive. But when an issue is pushed that far, it’s almost seducing a [...]
For a real laugh, sometimes you have to stray from the comics. Yesterday, I found mine in The Globe and Mail’s Health & Fitness section.
“How to talk to your kids about swine flu.” Gold.
Yes, I’m being shortsighted. Yes, I’m being insensitive. But when an issue is pushed that far, it’s almost seducing a smile. Tell me you can take the Dr. Phil special Dr. Phil House: Heroin Twins seriously, and I’ll retract my comment.
But since everyone’s doing it, I suppose I’ll hop on the bandwagon and come up with my own list of helpful hints to deal with the growing pandemic.
How to talk to your kids about swine flu
By Robyn Urback
- First off, it’s H1N1, jerks.
- Wash your hands.
- Lysol the area, then sit your child down.
- Tell your child you have something important to talk to him/her about. Best to start crying from the get-go. That way, your child will know you’re serious and won’t get distracted by toys or games or other frivolous things three-year-olds busy themselves with as they bask in ignorant global disconnect.
- Wash your hands.
- Explain the history of global pandemics, paying special attention to the 1918 Spanish Flu.
- Detail the molecular breakdown of the H1N1 virus.
- Now it’s time for the nitty-gritty. Glaze over nothing. Pair positives with negatives to ensure smooth reception. For example, tell your child that a vaccine is in the works, then say that camp/daycare/play dates/day trips/vacations/going outside has been canceled.
- If your child gets upset, coddle with your words. Physical contact spreads contaminants.
- Wash your hands.
There you have it! Now get inside, and enjoy your summer.
- photo courtesy of Talea Miller, NewsHour
Swine Flu plays nice with the elderly?
H1N1 virus targets young adults, universities preparing for rapid spread
Flu scare nibbles at Alberta’s university enrolment
Some international groups cancel trips to the province, universities not concerned
According to The Calgary Herald, this year’s H1N1 virus is causing some international students to cancel their plans to study at Alberta post-secondary schools this summer.
Alberta Advanced Education says there has been a decline in student enrolment in international summer programming, but says the drop isn’t significant enough to warrant government. Early indications are that fall programs will not be affected, according to an spokesperson for the department
At Mount Royal College, approximately 60 students from Mexico and China recently cancelled plans to attend the campus in June and July due to the H1N1 virus.
“For this year, it’s just one of those unfortunate world events over which we have no control,” says Lorna Smith, director of the school’s international education program.
“The universities have to be very cautious and risk-averse because they’re responsible for the lives of students to the parents,” she says. “I think that’s why they tend to be more cautious when they’re sponsoring an exchange program.”
As of last Monday there were 171 confirmed cases of swine flu in the province, and one person in northern Alberta has died.
According to the Herald, other universities are seeing international students cancel summer plans. At the University of Lethbridge, a group of 25 students from a high school in Japan won’t be heading to the city this July.
Although the University Calgary did cancel a sociology field trip to Mexico, the school says it hasn’t seen any discernible drop in summer international student enrolment
Grant MacEwan student diagnosed with swine flu
Students and staff were notified of the case by e-mail
According to a report in the Edmonton Journal, a student at one of Grant MacEwan College’s Alberta campuses has been diagnosed with the H1N1 flu virus. Staff and students were notified of the case by e-mail.
“MacEwan continues to remind students, faculty and staff to follow recommended procedures such as handwashing, covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing, checking with your doctor if you have any flu-like symptoms and staying at home if you are ill,” read the e-mail.
The school says it has installed sanitizers in various locations at all four campuses and is disinfecting surfaces more frequently. The majority of the school’s classes are done until fall.
