2,000 students at US university report swine flu symptoms

[Christa]

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AFP) – Some 2,000 students at Washington State University have reported symptoms of swine flu, university officials said, in one of the largest reported outbreaks of the virus on a US college campus.

The west-coast school last week instituted a blog to help provide information to students about the sudden and dramatic spread of the A(H1N1) virus on campus just days into the new school term.

"We estimate that we have been in contact with about 2,000 students with influenza-like illness in the first 10 days of our fall semester," the latest online posting said.

"At this time of year, we would typically only see a handful of patients with influenza-like illness. Health care providers in the local community have also seen WSU students with influenza-like illness, but we have no way of knowing how many.

"We also have no way of estimating how many students are self-caring at home without contacting us," school officials said.

They also said they had been asked by the county health department "to track numbers in this way to give us a better idea of how many students at WSU actually have influenza-like illness."

The university of about 19,000 students added that it is following guidelines issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in advising students how to avoid catching and spreading the virus.

WSU said it has begun handing out flu self-care kits to students.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090906/hl_afp/healthfluusuniversity_20090906183917/print

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

1. Hope they have a bunch of Tamiflu.

[virgogal]

2. Mass hysteria?

[Christa]

3. I would not be suprised. nt

[Mojambo]

4. My friend Stacey just started up there.

She hasn't caught it... yet.

[JonQ]

5. I wonder how many just have a cold

or knew someone with a cold and are experiencing their symptoms by proxy.

[MichaelHarris]

6. I'm here, on campus

and it's nowhere near as bad as the media is making it out. We have a few doctors in town hell-bent on either making money or getting on TV. Bottom line, only TWO confirmed cases. I've said it before, you want news? All you need is terror, a missing white woman, or swine flu.

Funny thing, University of Idaho, nine miles away has none, not a single case. Most students and faculty at U of I know nothing of an outbreak. WSU is just twitchy.