While the influenza virus has spread nationwide and reached epidemic proportions in some areas, university health officials say they have laid the groundwork to handle the worst flu season since 2009. More than 47 states have reported widespread flu activity as of Friday, and the country has reached an epidemic status with 20 related deaths under the age of 18, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website. The flu is typically a wintertime disease, and different hemispheres experience the sickness at different times, said Paul Bennett, Chief of Staff at SIU Health Services. “Typically it comes in from the coast, and then the middle of the country where we live is hit last.” he said. “We have to assume that the experience is in other parts of the country might trickle down to us as well. It doesn’t always happen that way, but it certainly can and we’re preparing for the worst.” Bennett said the Health Center staff is prepared for patient care with a questionnaire to help them determine whether their symptoms are flu-like and require a doctor’s office visit. Other preparations include a streamlined nurse message system and ensuring people know the sickness’ warning signs, he said. The CDC labels symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat and nasal congestion as common. Others such as chest pains, dizziness, breathing difficulty or abdominal pressure are symptoms Bennett said can justify an emergency room visit rather than over-the-counter medication. “(Students) may not even be sick yet,” he said. “They may have come in contact with someone and not show any symptoms, but with a minor cough or a sneeze you can transfer the virus to someone else. Within a day or two, they will become symptomatic but may be contagious a day or so before that.” Students are expected to miss class as the virus spreads, said Kathleen Jones, medical education preparatory instructor whose stomach flu caused her to miss work earlier this week. “It’s a sort of push and pull because you don’t want someone contagious coming to class, but at the same time you don’t want them getting off schedule or behind in
LYNNETTE OOSTMEYER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
A student receives a flu shot Friday at the Student Health Center. A yearly influenza vaccine is the most important action to prevent influenza viruses, along with avoiding contact with sick individuals and touching your eyes, nose and mouth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Roughly 50 shots were still available for patients at the Student Health Center as of Tuesday afternoon, said Jodi Robertson, the center’s director of nurses. However, vaccines remain available at pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS as well as county health departments. lecture,” she said. “Tools like (Desire2Learn) can help a lot, but face-to-face interaction in a classroom is something you can’t duplicate.” This year’s flu vaccine has been 62 percent effective against the virus, according to the CDC website. The vaccine has three components — two type-A flu strains and one type-B — and it is grown in an egg-based medium. Patients with an egg allergy should consult their doctors to weigh the vaccine’s
SOURCE | ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH NICHOLAS BURKE | DAILY EGYPTIAN
risks and benefits. Bennett said the vaccine’s effectiveness is based on a patient’s response to it and whether its producers predicted the correct strain. However, he said the vaccine may not guarantee complete protection. “The experts try to predict what they think will be the likely prevalent strains during cold and flu season that year,” he said. “Most years they get it right, some years they don’t. This
University College 101 administration plans to adjust classroom size and include more small group discussions than classes did last semester, a UCOL administrator said. Although the Saluki First Year office and class instructors are still collecting last year’s evaluations, class format changes have already begun and even more are expected for fall, said Amber Manning, a UCOL 101 Foundations of Inquiry administrator and instructor. “It is a class that is a lot of foundational skill building, so some freshmen don’t see the value of that until sophomore or junior year,” she said. “For me, a lot of the students come back and come
year, they appear to have nailed it.” Each year, every vaccine administrator orders shots based on its previous year’s numbers, said Jodi Robertson, director of nurses for Student Health Services. Robertson said this is the first time in her five-year tenure the department needed to order more vaccines. Please see FLU | 3
into my office and tell me they are using what they learned in UCOL in their current classes.” Manning said this semester’s UCOL curriculum will be similar to last semester, but students who didn’t pass last semester’s class will be offered new probationary classes. Skills such as time priority management will be the focus, she said. “We ask the question why the students weren’t successful in the fall,” Manning said. “It is really about them getting their confidence with being in college.” UCOL 101 is often controversial because many freshmen do not believe they need to take the course or believe they know everything the class offers, she said. “This is not a class, to me, you take if you are underprepared,”
she said. “Even overachieving students can use this class.” She said classroom size is also crucial to student success. “It has to be in a small classroom setting for it to be successful is what I have noticed,” Manning said. Emily Burke, a UCOL 101 instructor, had her own experiences when she taught the course. Burke said she saw a gap between better-prepared students and pupils who needed the course more. “I really enjoyed teaching the course,” she said, “I was surprised at what some students can do.” Burke said non-traditional and honors students could use separate UCOL 101 courses. Please see UCOL | 3