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Sep 9, 2009 10:39 pm US/Central
U Of M Expects More And More H1N1 Cases
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Officials at the University of Minnesota figured about 50 to 60 students had H1N1.
CBS
The University of Minnesota was scheduled to host a panel Thursday morning on the global impact of the H1N1 virus, what used to be called swine flu. It was not just an academic discussion. The U was part of the story.
Officials at the University of Minnesota figured about 50 to 60 students had H1N1.
Experts expect a big spike in cases over the next few weeks.
As if it isn't stressful enough to be a freshman at the U of M, try starting your college career with H1N1.
"My roommate came down with it the second day of welcome week so we were all pretty nervous for her. I mean none of us wanted to get sick and I had been in her room the night before," said U of M freshman Caroline Murray.
College officials were telling students that if they get sick they should leave campus and go home if they can. If they have to stay, they are told to self-quarantine.
"She was quarantined basically in her room for the rest of the week and they had to bring her dinner and lunch and breakfast. She couldn't talk to anyone, she could come out to go to the bathroom and that was about it," said Murray.
At the U, sick students are supposed to stay in their rooms, but surgical masks are available in all of the residence halls for those short periods of time when they may have to go out.
The university had plans in place for worst case scenarios, which may include closing dining halls, but officials didn't expect it to come to that. People were getting sick, but only for a few days. The most susceptible seemed to be those 25 and under, so it made sense that it would be spreading quickly at the U since so many live in close quarters.
"I think that it's going to take off here. I think that we're going to see many more cases. This is just the very, very beginning of it," said University of Minnesota Dean of the School of Public Health John Finnegan.
Vaccinations for seasonal flu were scheduled to start next week at the U, and shots for H1N1 were expected to be available near the end of October.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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