The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 9A The Michigan Daily - mithigandailycom Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 9A SWINE FLU From Page 1A who are sick to either go home to recuperate or, if that's not possible - and there are a lot of students where it wouldn't be feasible - to stay in their apartments and ride the flu out in isolation" Logan said. He added that the residence halls will be at full capacity and that there is no space available to isolate and quarantine stu- dents to prevent the spread of the virus. Housing will provide meals to students isolated in their residence halls, so as not to infect healthy stu- dents eating in the dining halls. Stu- dents will be able to order meals on the Housing website through Resi- dential Dining Services, and food will either be delivered to an ill stu- dent's room or the student can have a roommate or friend pick up food from the closest dining hall. Logan wrote in an e-mail that the plan is tentative and can be adjusted based on the amount of students in isolation. "If the scale of illness and in- room meal requests gets so large that this standard program is not sufficient, University Housing will then implement a plan for deliver- ing meals to the residence halls," Logan wrote. The University is also working on developing an online communi- cation database where ill students can inform the University if they are going home to recuperate or if they will self-isolate themselves in their rooms. Earlier plans called for resident advisers in residence halls to check on sick students and communicate the student's status to the Univer- sity. But emergency planners later decided that this system would not be effective. "RAs are students and they have academic responsibilities as well, and if they had to suspend this that could be a problem," Logan said, adding that resident advisers also would have a greater chance of becoming exposed to the virus. TEST RUN In July, the University's pre- paredness plans were tested when 15 high school students attending a summer program on campus came down with the HiN1 virus. The students were staying at Alice Lloyd Residence Hall, but were moved to an unoccupied residence hall for a seven-day isolation peri- od. The students recuperated after about one week. Winfield said they worked "very aggressively" to contain the virus and efforts were successful, but more importantly, the outbreak allowed for emergency coordina- tors to evaluate their readiness before this fall. "We all did a gap analysis identi- fying things where we recognized we hadn't done sufficient planning or the planning that we had done wasn't quite perfect" 'Winfield said. "We have been identifying those gaps and have been address- ing them all summer." INFORMATION CAMPAIGN As part of the University's over- all strategy to fight the virus, the Office of the Provost sent e-mails to students, families, faculty and staff that include information of symptoms to look for, like a fever over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, sore throat, coughing, sneezing, vomiting, headaches, muscle aches and diarrhea. The University is following guidelines from the CDC, part of which includes asking students who become ill to self-isolate themselves in their rooms for the duration of the illness plus 24 hours after their fever ends. Inan effort to prevent the spread of germs, several committees have designed personal hygiene posters and mirror cling-ons that will be placed in campus bathrooms. The messages will remind students to wash their hands regularly with hot water and soap and cover their cough. Andrew Burchfield, manager of emergency planning for the Uni- versity, said these simple acts are the most effective way to reduce the spread of germs. "(We're) just trying to keep that constant reminder within people's minds that washing their hands on a regular basis is critical and cov- ering your cough is also extremely important," Burchfield said. The HINi virus is similar to the seasonal flu in that it can be trans- mitted through surfaces or contact with other ill people. Robert Ernst, medical director of University Health Service, said washing your hands is the best way to protect yourself from getting influenza. "Every time you shake hands with somebody or touch surfaces that are shared you run the risk of picking up the virus on your hands," Ernst said, "and if you wash your hands in preferably hot soapy water or alternatively with some sort of hand sanitizer, you reduce the riskthat your hands will be contaminated." Ernst added that coughing and sneezing directly contaminates other people and surfaces, so coughing into a shoulder or sneez- ing into a tissue can greatly cut down the spread of germs. UNIVERSITY HEALTH SERVICE'S STRATEGY UHS is asking students who become sick with HINi to not visit the health service unless they are pregnant or have an underly- ing condition as designated by the CDC. These conditions include stu- dents with diabetes, severe asthma, HIV and immune deficiencies. UHS will not prescribe Tamiflu, the antiviral drug used to treat and prevent H1N1, to all ill students. In order to conserve supplies, only those who fall under high-risk categories like pregnant women, people with underlying health con- ditions and those at high risk who are exposed to people who already have HIN will receive medication. "If your roommate gets H1N1 and you have asthma, we'll treat you preventively," Winfield said. "But in general, we're not going to be giving Tamiflu to the gen- eral public in order to conserve for when we really need it." According to Cindra James, emergency preparedness coordina- tor at the Washtenaw County Pub- lic Health Department, the Health Department has about 3,500 doses of Tamiflu for Washtenaw County residents, not including University students. James said she expects that total will be an adequate amount to support the county. "We have a stock pile here to work with in the fall," James said. "Should that dwindle and should can always reapply and ask for more." Winfield said the University has a short supply of Tamiflu that will last if only those labeled as high- risk by the CDC are prescribed medication. "We've been told we can get more from the federal government as we need it," he said. "So we're pretty sure we will be OK, but we aren't sure how much we're going to able to get." Ernst said the majority of patients visiting UHS with HINT have hadsymptoms similarto those of people who get sick every year from seasonal flu, including vomit- ing and high fevers. "The reassuring thing is that most people who get H1N1 are not getting seriously ill," he said. "The actual manifestation of H1N1 infec- tion in young people tends to be not that different than the usual seasonal influenza, meaning people don't feel well for several days, but they aren't being hospitalized at a high percentage." Treatments for H1Ni are also comparable to those for the sea- sonal flu as they include staying well hydrated and taking medi- cations with ibuprofen to reduce fevers. Students can recuperate without consulting a physician, but students who fall into the high-risk categories should visit UHS, Ernst said. "Who should go see the doctor are those people who have under- lying serious health conditions - so diabetics, or people who are on medications that may suppress their immune system or people who have underlying conditions that are beingtreated for on a regu- lar basis," he said. Students who visit UHS seeking treatment for H1N1 will be asked to wear a mask to protect the health care providers and healthy patients "That's going to be one of our concerns - protecting our staff and protecting the other people in the waiting rooms from people who may be sick," Ernst said. "Wearing a mask while they're in the building is one way we can do that"' In case the number of influenza cases needing treatment becomes increasingly high, UHS officials are creating contingency plans for limiting some of the more routine types of care. Ernst cited gynecological exams as one prac- tice that could be put on hold if UHS becomes overwhelmed with influenza cases. "We're creating continuity plans to try and make sure we have adequate staffing to handle what we think might be a high level of influenza cases," Ernst said. "If that occurs, we may have to put offsome types of elective visits.' But Ernst said that will only hap- pen if the volume of cases becomes "critical.' The likelihood that the situation gets to that point is up in the air, though, as there's no way to predict how large the outbreak will be on campus, Burchfield said. "We really don't know how bad it's going to be - if it's going to be bad, if it's going to be really bad, it's somewhat of a guessing game in waiting to see what the results are," Burchfield said. "But I think overall, the University of Michigan has done a tremendous job in pre- paring and thinking about as many issues and making sure that we're keeping our students, faculty and staff as safe as possible.' TOMORROW'S INSTALLMENT What professors are being told to do with sick students, and just how likely is an epidemic on campus. AtConvocation, a focus on learning By ERIC CHIU participants in their undergraduate Daily StaffReporter education, both inside and outside the classroom. For the third straight year, the University President Mary Sue University received a record num- Coleman told students to expect ber of undergraduate admissions new experiences during their applications, meaning that once times here and encouraged them to again, getting into this year's fresh- become a part of the academic com- man class was no easy feat. That munity. sentiment was more than clear "We are constantly in pursuit during the New Student Convo- of new knowledge here, and you cation at Crisler Arena Thursday are expected to contribute to that night. quest," Coleman said. "One of the Throughout the two-hour event, reasons you are part of this com- University faculty and administra- munity is because of what you can tors routinely praised the roughly offer your peers, and the diversity of 6,500 students and family members cultures, beliefs and interests of our in attendance, touting their aca- studentbody is limitless.' demic strengths and offering advice In her speech, University Pro- for the years to come. vost Teresa Sullivan recounted the "I can say, without hesitation, advice that her former students had that this year's class is more actively for the incoming class. engaged and academically well- "Seize the opportunities available qualified than any other class in the here" she said. "Explore widely and history of the University" said Ted dig deeply into areas that interest Spencer, associate vice provost and you; develop friendships that will executive director of undergraduate sustain you.' admissions. Sullivan also urged students to The University received 29,939 use the resources here, whether it applications from prospective be joining a student organization freshmen for the 2009-2010 aca- or meeting regularly with academic demic year - an increase of 133 advisers. from the previous year. Around 92 Engineering Prof. Michael Thou- percent of those who applied were less encouraged each student to in the top 10 percent of their gradu- avoid becoming a "passive observer ating class, and had an average high from the back of the classroom?' school grade point average of 3.8. "One day soon you will graduate More than half had volunteered at a ceremony similar to this one," with community health programs, Thouless said. "The diploma you while 30 percent scored between 30 receive should be much more than and 36on the ACT. just a sign that you have spent time Keeping in line with the pro- at one of the finest institutions in gram's theme, "Your Time, Your the world. It should also be a sign Place, Your Michigan," speakers that you have spent your time here urged students to become active well?' "