Message to Students
10/01/2009
Dear Students,
As you may know, college campuses across the United States are reporting that more students have suspected cases of the H1N1 influenza virus. While last spring the impact was minimal, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Indiana State Department of Health are now expecting that the H1N1 flu will be more widespread and may have a significantly greater effect on normal activities.
There’s no reason to panic. The virus causes a relatively mild illness in most of those infected.
However, you should follow these basic steps to reduce your risk of contracting H1N1:
- Wash your hands often.
- Avoid close contact with people who have flu-like symptoms.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze; if you
don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your sleeve. - Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth to limit the spread of germs.
- Practice good health habits—get plenty of rest; be physically active; drink plenty of fluids; eat nutritious food; don’t share food, drinks or utensils.
- Stay home when you are sick. You’ll help prevent others from catching your illness.
If you do experience flu-like symptoms, you should isolate yourself. Do not attend class or participate in any campus activity. Typical symptoms include a fever of 100° or higher along with a sore throat and cough. If you have these symptoms, stay away from others until your fever has returned to normal for 24 hours without the aid of medication such as Tylenol.
If you do contract the flu, please e-mail your professors to let them know that you are ill and will miss class. We have communicated with the faculty, and they should be accommodating to your absence. If you run into any problems, please contact my office at 765-973-8252.
The flu symptoms should end within a few days. You should only need to contact a health care provider if you have a compromised immune system or underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma, heart disease, kidney or liver disease. If you fall into this category and experience symptoms, you should consider consulting your doctor.
Finally, we highly recommend that you get the normal seasonal flu shot that is now available.
Indiana University is closely monitoring the H1N1 virus and will communicate any new information as it becomes available. Stay informed about campus plans and get other useful information from the IU East homepage or go directly to IU East’s H1N1 preparedness site.
Best wishes for a healthy and safe semester,
Mary Blakefield, Ph.D.
Dean of Students
