The All State

By Jenelle Grewell | Assistant News Editor

On June 11, the World Health Organization declared the novel H1N1 virus, swine flu, to be a pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to update their guidance about responding to the H1N1 influenza as new developments arise.

According to the CDC’s Web site (www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/) as of 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, in over 50 states and territories, 9,079 people have been hospitalized because of the swine flu and 593 have died.

On August 28, APSU President Timothy Hall released an e-mail stating two commuter students were suspected of having the swine flu.

Since the release of that e-mail, APSU has assembled a task force due to the pandemic. Sherryl Byrd, the associate vice president of Student Affairs is a member of the task force.

The list of the other faculty, staff and students who are included on this task force can be found by e-mailing flu@apsu.edu.

Byrd said the goal of the task force is to increase awareness of preventative measures that can help reduce the spread of the flu; make available educational information regarding symptoms and CDC’s recommendation for treatment; provide and distribute appropriate cleaning supplies for offices, classrooms and residence halls; inform the campus community of how to respond to suspected cases; and monitor reported cases in order to make recommendations to President Hall if necessary.

“It is impossible to prevent an outbreak,” Byrd said. She said preventative measures such as hand washing can significantly reduce cases of the flu.

Byrd said the qualifications for members of the task force included knowledge and experience related to nursing, public health, microbiology and epidemiology, as well as any staff members whose positions or areas of responsibilities would provide critical support for ongoing preventative and response efforts such as in Housing, Residence Life and Dining Services, Health Services, Physical Plant, Public Safety, Human Resources and Public Relations.

Byrd said other measures implemented to reduce cases of the flu around campus are:

— Participating in a webinar on Tuesday, Sept.15, titled “H1N1 Campus Management: Perspectives from Human Resources, the Business Office and Health and Safety Management.”

— The task force has met Aug. 24, 28 and Sept. 4, and meetings will continue as needed.

— Established contact with Montgomery County Health Department to track local cases of suspected H1N1 flu.

— APSU Health Services is registered with the Tennessee Department of Health to receive the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available, track suspected cases of the flu by those visiting the clinic, have disposable thermometers available to monitor temperature of those with suspected flu and masks available in the waiting area if needed.

— Eight ounce bottles of hand sanitizers were given to new students at Freshman Convocation.

Chad Brooks, assistant professor of biology, gave a presentation about regarding preventative measures, good hygiene and flu symptoms at both the Freshman Convocation and the Faculty/Staff Convocation.

—The APSU Health Services site was updated with current information and links to other resources such as the CDC.

A dedicated e-mail address was established for questions and to report suspected cases for tracking purposes which will be monitored by Task Force members. This e-mail address is flu@apsu.edu.

— Hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes have been provided to all offices and common areas, one personal four ounce bottle for each employee and a large bottle for their office.

— CDC flyers were sent to each building coordinator to be posted in the all the buildings and restrooms to encourage people to “Cover Cough/Clean Hands.”

— An e-mail from the provost to all faculty requesting H1N1 preventative measures be discussed during the first meeting of each class, asking faculty to develop accommodations for students who are absent due to the flu as much as possible and reasonable and make more use of D2L capabilities.

— A request for faculty and supervisors for employees to document self-reported suspected cases of flu from students in their classes to the task force Web site, so campus cases can be tracked.

— Eight ounce bottles distributed to residence hall rooms and apartments and commercial sized hand sanitizer dispensers for all lobbies.

— Information flyers e-mailed to all residents, CDC flyers posted in residence halls, preventative measures and the video of Brooks’ presentation airing on the Housing television channel.

— Discussions at mandatory hall meetings for all residents and students asked to self-report suspected flu cases to a RA and or hall director.

— “Clean Rooms” are designated if a roommate of a student who is suspected of having flu wants to be moved.

— Contact and methods established to get meals to sick students if needed.

Byrd said APSU has a campus-wide, detailed Emergency Preparedness Plan that covers a health emergency among many other possible scenarios can be found on the A-Z index.

“The task force will continue to monitor suspected cases to determine what additional responses are warranted, if any,” she said. “We encourage all students to register for the AP Alert to be notified quickly in the case of any campus emergency,” Byrd said. Byrd said in the extreme and unlikely case that the flu outbreak becomes so severe and widespread the cancellation of events or classes becomes necessary, the AP Alert will be used as the first and fastest way of notification.

For more information on H1N1, students can visit www.apsu.edu/healthservices/H1N1 for links to resources.