Swine flu is so contagious the student health center is now passing out masks to students with symptoms, and seeing masks on campus has a lot of students on edge.
“Right now I’m pretty conscious about the places I go and basically I try stay away from too many tight quarters, I try not to touch the door handle, and I shower daily,” said freshman Russell Main.
“Now I’m coughing and having the same symptoms they are,” said freshman Samantha Gonzalez. “So now I’m a little afraid I have the same thing as them, or it could possibly be worse.”
UCF already has at least 11 confirmed cases of swine flu. There are at least 25 more cases of flu health officials believe will soon test positive for swine flu, too.
Students are taking action to stay safe.
“I try and stay clean using the Germ-X stuff,” said freshman Brett Hookcamp. “That’s pretty much all you can do, I mean, you can’t be OCD about it.”
Students with swine flu are told to stay out of class, but UCF sent out an email saying, “…make-up work for class(es) missed must be discussed with agreed upon by the faculty member.”
That means there’s no set standard on what’s excused, what’s not and how to make work up. Freshman Erica Serio thinks the process should be more uniform.
“I think UCF should set firm guidelines to let kids be excused from class,” she said, “because I don’t think it’s the students fault if they get the Swine Flu and teachers should be lenient.”
Despite the warning e-mails from UCF some students think more should be done, like posting more notices in the gym to make students even more alert.
“I always clean after I’m done working out and stuff,” said freshman Pablo Quiroga, but added “not that many people do.”
Swine flu is usually not deadly, and there is a vaccine in the works that should be out by October. Most recover quickly, but in rare cases, it is deadly. A 20-year-old, who is not a UCF student, died in Orange County last week.
Serio couldn’t believe it.
“People are dying from swine flu, I didn’t even know that!” she said. “Yes I am nervous. I’ll keep my hand sanitizer handy!”
And experts say taking measures, like Serio, can go a long way in keeping you safe.
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