Student Union

H1N1 After meeting with Assistant Vice Chancellor Steve Hoffner this afternoon, I wanted to pass along some information about Wash U's preparations for the H1N1 outbreak affecting the US this fall. Mr. Hoffner told me that many of our peer institutions and many state schools across the country have already had a number of cases of the "Swine Flu" since the fall semester began. Hand sanitizers have been put up all around campus to encourage students to keep clean, but the truth is that Wash U is not expecting to escape the new disease. While the symptoms are not much worse than the average flu, H1N1 does affect people under 24 worse than others. (*** READ MORE to see what to expect if you catch it!***)

There are a few important things for you to know about Wash U's plans for potential cases and outbreaks. First, there are already two or three task forces meeting regularly to discuss the issues at hand. One of the things they are working on is securing vaccines for the campus when they are released in October -- so watch for that.

**Here is what to expect if you catch H1N1 while on campus:

1. You will be asked to stay home from class for 7 days (or until you are fever-free for 24 hours).

2. If you live within 250 miles of campus, you will be encouraged to go home to recover for that week.

3. If you stay on campus, you will be asked to stay in the dorms and your roommate(s) will be offered another location to stay while you recover.

4. You will be asked to wear a mask if you leave your room.

5. You will have to have friends get you food, or food will be delivered to your room.

6. The Provost will be asking all of the deans to ask their faculty (aka, your professors) to be lenient and flexible with due dates and class attendance.

So. Long story short: H1N1 is likely coming and Wash U is pulling out all the stops to prepare the campus and keep the number of infections to a minimum. Wash your hands, get some sleep, drink some OJ, and don't hang around people who are coughing up a lung.