Students, staff and faculty should read — and heed — flu guidelines

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

Wash your hands.

Those three words may determine how well you — and your fellow co-workers and students — fare during the coming flu season.

Hand washing is one of the key precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to minimize exposure to germs that can cause swine (H1N1) flu and seasonal flu. Health officials predict there will be no shortage of germs this fall and winter because they expect H1N1 flu viruses to circulate with seasonal flu viruses.

PHOTOS.COM

The 2009 novel H1N1 influenza virus is now the dominant flu virus in circulation around the world. The CDC no longer reports individual case counts in the U.S. because the confirmed and probable case counts represent a significant underestimate of the true number of cases, due to only a small proportion of people with respiratory illness actually being tested for H1N1. The President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology has predicted that H1N1 flu viruses could infect 30 to 50 percent of the U.S. population this flu season, and 60 million to 120 million people could develop symptoms. Duke University has been dealing with flu cases throughout the summer, and a number of other universities have already reported students with flu symptoms, including Tulane University, where more than 20 football players missed a preseason practice because they had flu-like symptoms. Rice Student Health Services has confirmed three cases of influenza among 16 students who had flu-like symptoms this week. The test did not identify the type of flu virus.

Rice’s Crisis Management Team has been implementing the CDC guidelines for universities. More than 120 alcohol-based hand sanitizers have been installed in buildings across campus. The housekeeping staff is giving extra attention to wiping door handles, elevator buttons and other high-contact surfaces. Flyers with health tips about the flu have been posted in public areas and online at www.rice.edu/flu. And flu kits containing educational materials and digital thermometers to check for fever will be distributed to the residential colleges and graduate student apartments.

In addition to washing hands with warm water and soap or an alcohol-based cleaner, the CDC recommends covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and then immediately putting the tissue in the trash. Also avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth — common entryways for the virus. Flu shots are recommended.

Rice is offering flu shots to students, staff and faculty (see sidebar) for protection against seasonal flu. However, the vaccine for H1N1 is still in the testing phase and is not expected to be available until later in the fall.

“It’s still important to get the seasonal flu shot,” said Dr. Mark Jenkins, director of Rice’s Student Health Services. “It could spare you the double whammy of suffering from two bouts of the flu this season.”

$13 seasonal flu shots for undergraduate and graduate students (free for students in the CDC’s at-risk groups) PHOTOS.COM Sept. 10, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Student Health Center To schedule an appointment, call 713-348-4966. Free seasonal flu shots for benefits-eligible faculty and staff and retirees Oct. 12, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Kelley Lounge of the Rice Memorial Center/Ley Student Center Oct. 16, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., FE&P Training Room Oct. 23, 8 a.m.-noon, Kelley Lounge of the Rice Memorial Center/Ley Student Center Non-benefits-eligible faculty and staff and all spouses/domestic partners can get seasonal flu shots for $25 per shot; they must pay by cash, check or credit card at the site.

The illness caused by both seasonal and H1N1 flu viruses typically produces a fever above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) accompanied by a cough and/or sore throat. Additional symptoms may include a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, unusual fatigue, diarrhea or vomiting.

Most healthy people will recover on their own after the illness runs its course, usually within five days, and no medical treatment is required. But the flu can be deadly for pregnant women, children under 5 years of age and people with chronic health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease. Anyone in these high-risk groups who develops flu-like symptoms should contact their health care provider as soon as possible, according to the CDC. Early treatment with antiviral flu medication is most effective when started within the first 48 hours of sickness.

Students who have flu-like symptoms should call Student Health Services at 713-348-4966.
Because the main way flu spreads is from person to person in droplets produced by coughs and sneezes, sick students should avoid contact with others until at least 24 hours after the fever is gone (without the use of fever-reducing medication) except to get medical care or other necessities. The CDC recommends that students who have family in the local area go home for the duration of their illness. Other students should quarantine themselves in their room and make arrangements for a friend to deliver their meals. The CDC advises roommates of sick students to stay six feet away and wash their hands frequently. Faculty members have been asked to allow sick students to make up homework assignments, tests and lab requirements. Faculty are also being encouraged to make course materials and notes available electronically so that sick students can access them from their room.

Staff and faculty who have flu-like symptoms should stay home until at least 24 hours after the fever is gone (without using fever-reducing medication). If their children become sick or their children’s schools close because of flu outbreaks, faculty and staff should not bring them to the office. If employees need to stay home to care for sick family members, supervisors have been asked to excuse them from work, with no disciplinary action for the absence. They will be charged benefit time.

Faculty and staff are also encouraged to register with one of Rice’s backup care programs for assistance with at-home care for mildly ill children or other relatives or at-home or center-based care for healthy children. For more info, visit http://bit.ly/2vGjUK.

Members of the Crisis Management Team (CMT) will meet weekly to continue flu preparations and to monitor the incidence of flu among students, faculty and staff. If an outbreak warrants closing the campus temporarily, the CMT will communicate an announcement through e-mail, text messages, rice.edu, local media and Rice’s automated emergency telephone line, 713-348-8888.

For more information about the flu, visit the CDC site, http://www.flu.gov/, or the Texas Department of State Health Services site, http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/swineflu/.

Updates from the CMT will be posted at www.rice.edu/emergency. Questions for the CMT can be sent to Dan Fu at Dan.Fu@rice.edu.