VCU, UR manage possible swine-flu cases

As predicted, college students returning for fall classes and crowding into dormitories, classrooms and cafeterias are driving up the number of suspected swine-flu cases.

More than a dozen colleges across the country are reporting students sick with what is suspected to be the novel H1N1 influenza, also called swine flu.

In the Richmond area, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond each report students with flulike illness.

"The key message is that novel H1N1 has not actually gone anywhere," said Dr. Danny Avula, deputy director of the Richmond City Health District. "Since it hit in April, we have had a pretty steady stream of flulike illness."

VCU spokeswoman Pam Lepley said testing confirmed influenza A in four students since classes resumed Aug. 20 but not specifically the novel H1N1 flu. Lepley said university student-health officials are assuming the students have novel H1N1, since that is what is circulating in the community.

"A couple [of students] came in late in the week, so they went home over the weekend," Lepley said. The other person was isolated in her dorm room.

"That's not a lot, but we're certainly prepared that there could be a lot more," Lepley said. The illness has been mild, she said.

Rapid tests can confirm that a person has influenza, but additional, more-expensive testing is needed to tell if it's novel H1N1. Public-health officials recommend more specific testing only in certain cases, such as if a person is hospitalized or for confirming whether clusters of cases have a single source of infection.

Unlike seasonal flu, which most often tends to sicken the very old and the very young, the novel H1N1 flu seems to be making young people sick.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of cases per 100,000 population is highest in ages 5 to 24, with hospitalization rates highest in children in the 0 to 4 age group.

Mississippi State University in Starkville has had more than 250 people with flulike symptoms since July 15, Robert Cadenhead, administrator of the student health center, told Bloomberg News.

The University of Kansas in Lawrence counted more than 100 sick, and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville estimates at least 100 students showed flu symptoms since classes started Aug. 19, according to Bloomberg.

UR spokesman Brian Eckert said four students went to a Patient First urgent-care center during the weekend with flu symptoms.

"If possible, we are asking our students if they live within five hours of campus to go home," Eckert said. "If they can't go home, [we're asking] that they stay in their room and, if they have a roommate, that they use an N-95 [face] mask when the roommate is around."

Federal health officials in August made recommendations to colleges and universities for managing flu cases on campus. Whether sick students are sent home or not varies. Other universities in the area were not reporting any cases of flulike illness as of yesterday but were preparing for the possibility.

"We have isolation areas already identified," said Thomas Reed, spokesman for Virginia State University. "Within a day, we could get something up and running. This is fairly in line with our emergency planning."

At Randolph-Macon College, dean of students Grant Azdell said planning started in the spring. "We adopted long ago a 'when it happens' rather than an 'if it happens' scenario," Azdell said. With close to 98 percent of students living on campus, Azdell said the college is adopting an isolation-in-place protocol.

At Washington and Lee University in Lexington, which had a cluster of flu cases in the spring, undergraduate classes will begin Sept. 10.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and members of his Cabinet will hold a briefing today on state preparations for the H1N1 flu season. The event will be held at Samuel Tucker Elementary School in Alexandria.

Contact staff writer Tammie Smith at TLsmith@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6572.