As the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic progresses, changes are being implemented across campus and on a national level to combat the spread of illness.
Last Friday, President Obama declared the H1N1 pandemic a national emergency.  In the declaration, Obama stated that the “2009 H1N1 pandemic continues to evolve.  The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities.”
The President’s administration is calling the declaration a protective measure that is not in direct response to any new development. It is intended to give the federal government more power to help states fight the spread of H1N1.
Locally, many school districts have closed in an effort to curb the spread of the illness.  The Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Area Schools were closed last week for four days while Pelkie Elementary School, which serves students in the Baraga area, was closed from Oct. 21 to Oct. 23.  The Ontonogon Area School District was also closed from Monday to Wednesday of this week with the possibility of a longer closure depending on a re-evaluation of attendance and the health of students.
No lab-reported cases of H1N1 have been reported at Michigan Tech.  The Western Upper Peninsula Health Department (WUPHD) is focusing on diagnosis and treatment of those with flu-like symptoms instead of testing each individual case for H1N1.
Students have been reminded via e-mail to practice good hygiene and to cover coughs and sneezes.  Students are also being asked to alert the University if they are suffering from flu-like symptoms through the Michigan Tech flu Web site: www.mtu.edu Using a form on the flu Web site, students can notify the Dean of Students Office of their illness; the information will then be reported to the student’s instructors.  According to Vice President for Student Affairs, Les Cook, 245 students had completed the form to report flu-like illness as of Tuesday morning.
Students “are responsible for contacting their instructors for arrangements to make up missed work and assignments,” according to the flu Web site.  Michigan Tech faculty are being asked to be lenient regarding assignment due dates and the possible need to reschedule exams and will not require a doctor’s note to excuse a student’s absence.
Due to the ease of reporting illness, some students are taking advantage of the new system.  One student, who wished to remain anonymous, said they reported that they were sick using the form on the flu website to avoid taking an exam even though they had no flu-like symptoms.  Another anonymous student said that they reported having some flu-like symptoms in order to be excused from class even though they knew their symptoms were not indicative of a contagious illness such as H1N1.
“There is really no way to monitor abuse of the online form,” Dr. Cook said.  “We trust that students will have integrity and be honest with us regarding illness.”
Michigan Tech is working closely with the WUPHD to monitor the spread of illness.  Dr. Theresa Frankovich of the WUPHD said that the Centers for Disease Control recommends basing the suspension of classes on the overall increased severity of H1N1 and not on a specific number or percentage of reported infections at a college or university.
In response to the recent outbreak of illness on campus, the Inter-Residence Hall Council decided to cancel the annual Safehouse event.  Travis Pierce, Director of Housing, said in an e-mail that “in an effort to limit the exposure of those visiting campus with our residents, Safehouse has been cancelled…”  No one could be reached before printing to comment on the number of times Safehouse has been cancelled in the past.
In the Sept. 17 issue of the Lode, it was reported that the University would be installing hand sanitizer stations at high traffic areas throughout campus and at the entrances to computer labs.  However, after a recent walkthrough of the first floor of every main building on campus and inspecting the entrances to some computer labs, only eight hand sanitizer stations could be found.  The eight hand sanitizer stations were found either in the Residence Hall lobbies or in dining locations.  Of the eight stations inspected, one was empty.
“Hand sanitizers were ordered some time ago but were back ordered and then we were told they wouldn’t be available until December or later,” Dr. Cook said.  “Hearing that, another company was contacted and sanitizers were ordered.  The sanitizers should be in place early next week.”
The Michigan Tech flu Web site states that the school “is working closely with the Western UP District Health Department to coordinate H1N1 vaccination clinics for students on campus.”  Currently, there is not a sufficient supply of the vaccine to conduct a vaccination clinic.  The clinic is currently planned to be conducted by the third week in November and will be free of charge to Michigan Tech students.  Once details are made available, they will be provided on the Michigan Tech flu Web site and printed in the Lode.