It seems even Spike isn’t invincible against the threat of the H1N1 virus.
Posters displayed around Drake University’s campus urge students to “STOP!” as a feeble looking bulldog gazes out pitifully from the paper. The words above the dog announce, “H1N1 flu is on the increase in this area and is highly contagious.”
Provost Michael Renner said the posting of the “sick puppy” signs was spurred by an increase in the number of First Year Seminar student absences in recent weeks. Renner and the response team he chairs have tracked weekly FYS attendance since the beginning of the year as an indicator of student absence numbers for the campus.
But, at 7.8 percent for the last week of October, the numbers have not reached the 10 percent absence rate required for the university to proceed to the next level of institutional response.
“Students, faculty and staff have all responded responsibly to the situation, and I believe that the increased attention to the things everyone can do to help prevent the spread of this virus are a big part of why (the numbers are lower),” Renner said.
However, he warned, H1N1 “still could grow quickly into a big problem, so we are continuing to monitor the situation and make sure we are ready to respond with additional action, if the need arises.”
According to the Drake University Pandemic Response Overview, at 10 percent absence, the university will begin to track staff absence, notify groups visiting campus of current H1N1 status and inform schools where Drake athletes are traveling of the H1N1 presence at Drake.
The response outlines plans for up to a 40 percent absence rate, where it mandates the suspension of in-person class meetings and utilizes alternative instructional methods.
While Drake is nowhere near that point yet, many sources around campus point out that there have still been a lot of sick students.
LuAnn Volkmer, a nurse practitioner at the American Republic Student Health Center, said the last few weeks have been busy with students complaining of flu symptoms.
“We were probably doing about 25 calls a day, and I was probably diagnosing, probably six to 10 a day, and that’s what I’ve actually seen,” she said. “Most of them we don’t need to see because they can self-treat.”
The health center is not actually testing for H1N1, she said.
“We are confirming like the rest of the United States are confirming and that’s if you have flu symptoms, it’s presumably H1N1 because seasonal flu has not been confirmed yet in Iowa,” Volkmer said.
Polk County has not made the H1N1 vaccine available yet, and the health center has had only a few students come in to get the seasonal vaccine. Volkmer encourages students to get the vaccine because Drake is one of the few locations in Des Moines with the seasonal shot.
Dean of Students Sentwali Bakari said he plans to receive a seasonal flu shot at his physical next month. He said he suspected many students had already done the same thing, receiving the vaccine from their family physician.
He said he believed that a large number of students were also receiving treatment for H1N1 symptoms elsewhere.
Bakari’s office has been monitoring the number of students excused from class for flu symptoms through information from the health center and direct calls to their office.
However, with just 36 cases reported to his office university-wide, Bakari said he knows “that number is not right.”
“There are those who don’t even touch base with our office or may not have gone over to the health center,” he said. “They went home and were treated by a family physician or something and just stayed home and emailed the faculty saying, ‘I’m going to be out for a few days,’ and we don’t know about those folks.”
Sophomore Nisha Patel was one student who saw her family doctor at home. She was sick over fall break and remained at home for the Wednesday and Thursday after classes resumed.
She did contact the associate dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, though, when she realized she would be absent.
“I’ve never been that sick really,” she said. “Usually I just get the cold I can brush off and live with. But this wasn’t one of those things. I’d walk up stairs and get tired.”
Renner said he expects H1N1 to be around for a while.
“Experts who know more than I do are predicting that the incidence of H1N1 will continue to increase in the coming weeks,” he said. “I have no reason to doubt that.”
Volkmer, Bakari and Renner all directed students to do exactly what Spike’s poster suggests: Drink plenty of fluids, take over-the-counter medicine to treat symptoms, get lots of sleep and keep away from people.
Where do I buy that dog?