<p>The daughter of a good friend is in ICU with respiratory complications that they think started with H1N1. Student Health sent her back to her dorm on a Tues and by Friday she was in ICU on a ventilator. Just wondering what other schools are doing.</p>
<p>Ouch, so sorry to hear that. During the first 2 weeks of school, D2’s college came down with a rush of the flu. The administration was prepared and put those students (approx 25) in isolation at a separate building with 3 nurses. D2, having worked during freshmen orientation and at the front desk of a dorm, came down with some symptoms. She “surrendered” herself…turned out she did not have H1N1 (whew!)…but one student continued to have a fever for 3 days and was rushed down the street to a med ctr at another university. Eventually, D2 was vaccinated. Everything seems to be in control now.</p>
<p>The school my daughter attends informed us at orientation at the start of the fall quarter that they were taking H1N1 very seriously. Students are required to notify Health Services if they even suspect the flu and be evaluated. They are also required to notify their professors via e-mail about the illness, and nearly every professor has an alternative plan for the students to remain up-to-date on classwork. Since each class meets twice a week only Mon-Thur (no Friday classes) they plan for students to be kept out for two, maybe three class meetings. Students are told to not miss class for frivolous reasons as four absences are an automatic failure…that they need to ‘reserve’ those absences in the event they get the flu.</p>
<p>In addition, there is a full floor of one dorm set aside as a quarantine area for sick students and staff to provide meals to anyone asked to move to that area until they are well. Going home to recover simply isn’t an option for most of the student body.</p>
<p>To date, I’ve been very pleased with the steps the school has taken to keep the kids as healthy as possible. My daughter came home for break last week and said she didn’t really know of anyone that had gotten sick.</p>
<p>My daughter’s school is treating any flu-like symptoms as H1N1 pending confirmation. She is in a 32 person house, so they have been quarantining sick kids in their rooms. Only a couple turned out to be H1N1. I am not sure what would happen in a larger dorm.</p>
<p>The RA (in this case, my daughter) brings them meals and hand sanitizer, etc. while they are in quarantine. I was not thrilled when I found this out over Thanksgiving, because her school hasn’t gotten any H1N1 vaccines yet. I was able to get her one at Walgreen’s the first day she was home.</p>
<p>NCKay, I am sorry your friend’s daughter is so ill. I hope everything turns out OK.</p>
<p>At my school you aren’t allowed to go to class if you have had a fever within the last 24 hours (or go anywhere, you are supposed to self isolate), you email your professors who have been told to accommodate you but some are not and are still requiring you to come, and you register at health services and in your residence hall as someone who potentially has the flu. The res hall staff is supposedly supposed to be checking in on you but my roommate was sick the last three weeks and nobody ever even called the room to make sure she was alive, so I’m not sure if they just dropped the ball or what.</p>
<p>We were supposed to get the vaccine here but so far all we have had is the flumist vaccine, which the high risk patients can’t even have. I was really disappointed about that, I have asthma and wanted to get vaccinated, and thought I would be able to in October or November. But now I probably have the flu anyway.</p>
<p>TwistedXKiss, I hope you feel better soon. If you are still interested in the H1N1 shot when you get well, and your school still doesn’t have it, check with your state health department and other urgent care providers. It may still be possible for you to get it locally.</p>