UMHB Monitors Swine Flu
04/30/09
Belton, Texas - With the number of confirmed cases of swine flu climbing to 91 in the U.S., there is understandable concern that the illness could pose serious problems on college campuses, where there are high concentrations of young adults in close proximity to one another in classrooms and dormitories. Awareness of that threat has led the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor to take a proactive approach to dealing with the threat of a flu outbreak.
"Knowing that college populations are at particular risk when it comes to contagious illnesses, UMHB formed a pandemic study group in 2007," says Gary Sargent, chief of the UMHB Department of Public Safety. "The study group developed a plan to guide the university in times such as these. We updated our familiarity with the plan two weeks ago when the university participated in a regional pandemic drill, which afforded us the opportunity to test different components of the plan. As a result, we feel confident today in our abilities to respond effectively to this outbreak, should it reach our campus," Sargent said.
Though there have been no reports of suspected or confirmed swine flu infections in the UMHB community, administrators are keeping close tabs on the progress of the outbreak in Texas and other areas of the U.S. "We are in daily communications with state and local health officials, gaining the latest information pertaining to this outbreak," said Sargent. "Our goal at this point is to maintain a high level of situational awareness. We also want to provide our students, faculty, and staff with accurate information on the extent of the outbreak and how to protect their health. We want to avoid panic and make sure that all actions we take are based on credible information."
President Jerry G. Bawcom sent a letter to all students, faculty and staff this week, sharing current information regarding the swine flu and encouraging all members of the campus community to seek medical attention if they develop the symptoms common to any type of flu-cough, fever over 100 degrees, and body aches. "We always want our students and employees to stay home and get well when illness strikes, both for their sakes and for the sake of others who would interact with them in offices or classrooms," Bawcom said. "In this case, because the early symptoms of swine flu are practically indistinguishable from the symptoms of other strains of influenza, it is doubly important that we seek medical attention and avoid exposing others, if we become ill."
University administrators will remain watchful but do not anticipate an interruption of normal activities as the spring semester winds to a close. "At this time we have no reason to believe this outbreak will affect our campus community during these final days of the spring semester," Bawcom said. "Regular classes have now come to an end, and we expect final exams and graduation exercises on May 9 to proceed as planned."
"Of greater concern to us right now is the potential impact the swine flu outbreak could have on college students as we move toward the fall," said Sargent. "The predictive model that has been developed for a pandemic flu outbreak shows that, if the illness spreads in its usual manner, the greatest threat could come a few months from now. The predictive models generally show a first wave of illness that tapers off after 90 days or so; but after a brief respite, we could see a second wave of illness take place that is equally serious, if not more so. That time frame would put our university at the beginning of the fall semester, when students are returning from their hometowns all over this part of the U.S."
"So we will continue to monitor the progress of the swine flu with concern in the weeks to come, even if we have no reported incidents among our own students this spring or summer," Sargent said. "We intend to do our best to stay out in front of the situation, to do all we can to protect our students and keep them healthy."
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