Get ready for a big boost in the fight against swine flu at UCF.
Within a matter of weeks, everyone on campus could be offered a shot to vaccinate themselves from the contagious swine flu virus spreading across UCF, Florida and the world.
“We’re making plans to make it available through a mass vaccination campaign,” said Dr. Michael Deichen, who works at the UCF Health Center.
“We’re partnering with the public health department, and we’re planning to have mass vaccine clinics here on campus,” he said. “We have plans written up that will allow us to potentially inoculate everyone at UCF within a couple days.”
Most students we talked to said they’d get the vaccine, although a few were hesitant.
“I wouldn’t go out of my way to do it, but if I was supposed to, I’d get it,” one student said.
“I would get the vaccine if I was scared enough,” said another.
During the first week of fall classes, UCF had at least 43 suspected cases of swine flu, or H1N1.
“That number reflects the number of students who had positive tests for Influenza A at the Health Center,” said UCF spokesman Chad Binette. “If that test is positive, then the virus is almost certainly H1N1.”
Add to that UCF’s 30 confirmed cases of swine flu from spring and summer, and UCF has seen at least as many as 73 potential cases of swine flu on campus since the virus surfaced in April.
UCF is not alone – the virus appears to be hitting college campuses even harder across the country.
At least 2,000 students reported swine flu symptoms at Washington State University, according to the New York Times. That outbreak appears to be the largest among college campuses, the Times reported.
For students suffering from swine flu on UCF’s campus, they can ask their resident assistant for a UCF care package, complete with chicken noodle soup, energy powder to add to water and cough drops.
Masks are being given out immediately at the UCF Health Center to all students coming in with flu-like symptoms. If the student tests positive for flu, the Health Center may prescribe an antiviral medication called Tamiflu, according to Binette.
Students with suspected swine flu are instructed to stay in isolation until at least 24 hours after they are free of 100 degree fever or signs of fever without using fever-reducing medications, like Tylenol or Advil.
UCF officials are also reminding students to wash their hands, cough into a tissue or their sleeves instead of their hands, and to not touch their eyes, nose or mouth because that’s the way germs spread.
Officials are using everything from e-mail, posters – and even a hand-washing campaign featuring a student walking around campus with a urinal who distributes hand sanitizer to remind students to wash their hands.
Students who miss class because of swine flu shouldn’t become overly worried.
“We are urging faculty to adopt flexible makeup and attendance policies to accommodate students who are sick,” Binette said. “We also are urging faculty to develop alternative plans for their classes. This includes posting course material online as podcasts or in other formats and also lining up potential substitutes for their classes in case they are sick.”
Seven people in Orange County and 71 in Florida have died from swine flu so far, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
