A Note From Dean DiPippa - H1N1 Update - 14 September 2009
Bowen students, faculty, and staff,
Last week, our school saw 12 possible cases of H1N1 reported, and six of these cases have been confirmed as H1N1. Our assistant dean of student affairs, Valerie Nation, spoke with the Health Services Center (HSC) on the main campus today and learned that the HSC has changed its response to the flu in conjunction with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The HSC will no longer test for the flu. According to Marie Sundusky with the HSC, no Arkansas state agency is testing for flu either. The HSC will see students, faculty, and staff but will not perform testing unless there’s an underlying condition predisposing the student to flu complications, such as asthma, diabetes, or other chronic condition affecting lung function.
If a student, faculty or staff member has a 100 degree or more temperature, cough, and a sore throat, the HSC advises him or her to stay home. If someone is within 48 hours of initial symptoms and goes to the HSC, they can obtain a prescription for Tamiflu (cost is approximately $100 per dose). In line with Bowen's strategy for dealing with the flu, individuals should stay home until they’re fever free without the use of fever reducing medications for at least 24 hours.
If you find yourself suffering from flu-like symptoms, you should stay home, drink plenty of fluids, and monitor your temperature. If you are experiencing complications, please go the ER immediately.
Now more than ever, we need your help to keep more students, faculty, and staff members free of the flu virus. Here are a few things you can do to and encourage other people to do also:
- Wash your hands with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand cleaners also are effective. We have them at each public desk in the building.
- 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 elbow or shoulder, not into your hands. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth; germs are spread this way.
- Know the signs and symptoms of the flu:
- Fever – A fever is a temperature taken with a thermometer that is equal to or greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius. Look for possible signs of fever: if the person feels very warm, has a flushed appearance, or is sweating or shivering.
- Severe aches and pains in the joints and muscles and around the eyes
- Generalized weakness
- Warm, flushed skin and red, watery eyes
- Headache
- Dry cough
- Sore throat and watery discharge from your nose
- Stay home if you have flu or flu-like illness for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius) or signs of a fever (have chills, feel very warm, have a flushed appearance, or are sweating). This should be determined without the use of fever-reducing medications (any medicine that contains ibuprofen or acetaminophen). Don’t go to class or work.
- Decide whether you should be vaccinated for seasonal flu. Talk to your doctor for more information. Talk to your doctor about whether you should be vaccinated for seasonal flu. Also if you are at higher risk for flu complications from 2009 H1N1 flu, you should consider getting the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available.
For more information from the CDC on H1N1, please visit the
Centers' online information center.
We are also posting a
list of important links. This site will be continually updated as we have more ties to information about both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 virus.
Stay healthy,
Dean John DiPippa
