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UA Student, Now Fully Recovered, Diagnosed with H1N1 Flu; Campus Continues to Monitor the Flu Outbreak

A student at The University of Arizona was among four additional individuals diagnosed with H1N1 (“swine”) influenza in Pima County, according to the Pima County Health Department. Pima County now has 10 confirmed cases of H1N1.

The UA student, who lives alone off campus, according to the health department, was treated and released at University Medical Center on April 27 and has fully recovered from the mild flu illness. 

The H1N1 flu so far has been no more severe than seasonal flu. At this time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the primary means to reduce spread of influenza in schools is to focus on early identification of ill students and staff, staying home when sick and good cough etiquette and frequent hand washing. CDC advises that decisions about school closure should be at the discretion of local authorities, based on local considerations. The Pima County Health Department and other state public health agencies and experts are not recommending school closings, social distancing or other extreme prevention measures at this time. Therefore, the confirmation of this single case will not affect campus activities or events.

Nevertheless, key UA officials and the UA Campus Emergency Response Team continue to prepare to heighten the campus response and develop contingency plans in the event a major outbreak occurs on the UA campus. These measures include:

• A detailed protocol for handling any cases in residence halls.
• Ensuring the campus has sufficient vital supplies.
• Contingency plans for public events and summer school classes, if the Pima County Health Department recommends we begin practicing social distancing.
• Contingency plans for summer travel to Mexico.
• As an added precaution, campus buildings and residence halls are being cleaned with stronger disinfectants than normally used.
• The UA was one of the first U.S. universities to recommend against non-essential travel to Mexico.

To prevent the spread of the flu, the UA Campus Health Service recommends that individuals practice frequent hand-washing with soap and water or use alcohol-based gels, avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth and avoid close contact with people who are ill. Because flu is very contagious, Campus Health recommends individuals stay home if they have flu-like symptoms such as fever, body aches, coughing and sore throat. Then they should call the Campus Health Service (621-6490) or their primary care physician. So far, if antiviral treatment is needed, H1N1 flu has been highly treatable if those medications are started within 48 hours of the onset of flu symptoms.

Understandably, this outbreak has led to some rumors and misinformation. Please refer to the UA home page for official UA advisories regarding the campus response to the flu outbreak: http://www.arizona.edu/.

For answers to frequently asked questions:
http://cert.arizona.edu/news_articles.html

To receive any urgent campus advisories, please sign up for UAlert:  http://alerts.arizona.edu/

For information on Arizona’s response to the outbreak: http://www.azdhs.gov/flu/swine/index.htm

For Pima County information: http://www.pimahealth.org/disease/swineflu/swine_flu_arizona.html

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services new Web site dedicated to H1N1 flu information:  http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

For information on how families and individuals can prepare: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/individual/index.html

For several years, the UA Pandemic Response Planning Subgroup, part of the UA Campus Emergency Response Team, has been working closely with county, state and national agencies to develop measures to be taken during a potential pandemic influenza outbreak. The plan is available at http://cert.arizona.edu/pandemic_plan.html.