Washington University in St. Louis has identified the first cases of influenza A among its students, with three cases confirmed through tests at the Habif Health and Wellness Center as of late Wednesday.
“Washington University, like many other universities, has spent much of the summer preparing for and fully expecting the flu to make an appearance on campus as students return for fall classes,” said Alan Glass, M.D., director of the University’s Habif Health and Wellness Center and the leader of planning efforts on the University’s Danforth Campus. “It’s no surprise that the flu has now shown up on our campus, as it has already at many other universities nationwide.”
The first Washington University case was identified Tuesday and two more were confirmed late Wednesday. Two of the ill students are undergraduates who live in on-campus housing. A third student, also an undergraduate, lives in off-campus housing. Persons living near the three students are being informed and instructed on precautions they should take. The students are presumed to have novel H1N1 influenza because almost all of the influenza A virus currently circulating is thought to be the novel H1N1.
The students confirmed with flu thus far are reporting only moderate illness and are now in self-isolation following University flu response protocols, which are based on recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and on guidelines developed by a team of medical experts from Washington University.
The Centers for Disease Control has recommended that students with flu symptoms recuperate at home, if possible, or isolate themselves in their residence hall rooms, their apartments or other shared housing until 24 hours after any fever has ended (without the use of fever-reducing medications, such as Tylenol or ibuprofen).
Common symptoms of novel H1N1 influenza are similar to those of seasonal influenza A and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Treatment is the same and includes over-the-counter medications to treat flu symptoms and, in some instances, prescription anti-viral medications to reduce the severity of the flu. The great majority of novel H1N1 flu cases in the United States have not been severe and have not required hospitalization.
The CDC does not recommend that universities cancel classes or large events to contain the H1N1 unless the disease becomes severe and widespread.
Washington University will be posting frequent news updates to its Flu Information and Resources Web site: www.wustl.edu/flu. The Web site also includes information about flu prevention and treatment. More information on campus preparations for flu is available in a recent Record news story: http://record.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/14592.html.
For the latest national information on H1N1, please visit the CDC Web site at: http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/.