September 4, 2009

Dear Wheeling Jesuit Community Member,

You know that the spread of the Swine flu (H1N1) has become an issue of concern. Wheeling Jesuit has worked hard to prepare our campus and community on how to manage the spread of this and any other type of flu virus; this includes monitoring outbreaks.

With the start of the academic year, many campuses across the country are reporting Swine flu cases - including a few of our neighbors in Pittsburgh and just yesterday, West Virginia University in Morgantown; reports are that this particular flu spreads quickly. The reality is that Wheeling Jesuit University, like other educational settings, will eventually have ill students and employees.

Contrary to impressions that you may receive from the media, the Swine flu is not any more dangerous or deadly than regular seasonal flu strains (the one that goes around every fall and that we've all gotten at some point in our lives). Ill students and employees will likely be sick for 5-7 days; after this time, they'll resume normal activities.

Part of Wheeling Jesuit's preparation for this flu season include the following:

• Prevention is BEST medicine: The attached sign will soon be posted in pubic restrooms; a reminder to us all to practice good hygiene. Please take a minute to review the poster now.
• An increased number of hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes will soon be available on campus.
• Any student on campus with flu-like symptoms will be asked to go to the Health Center to see our nurse (Tuesday-Friday, 10am-3pm), to an off-campus health clinic when the Health Center is closed, or asked to self-isolate in their room (and away from their roommate) until medical attention is available. It is very important that we track all campus illnesses, especially those with fevers, congestion/cough/sore throat, or with a sudden onset of illness. It is doubly important that anyone becoming ill knows how to not spread their illness to others. Students may be asked to leave classes to go to the Health Center if they haven't already done so. Early detection and prevention is very important.
• Faculty have discussed the need to provide assignments and information through Blackboard when a student is ill and until they are "cleared" by a medical professional to resume normal activities.

We need your help to limit and stop any future spreads; the most effective way to do this is for ill community members to not be on campus. Employees with the flu are not to physically report to work; they'll be asked to work from home whenever possible (for faculty, this may mean conducting classes via Blackboard). Residential students will be required to either go home for recovery or to isolate themselves by moving temporarily into designated "sick rooms" in Kirby and Ignatius Halls if they are not able to go home; staff will be available to meet these students' needs while recovering. All ill community members should expect to stay away from campus (or in "sick rooms") for 5-7 days; everyone will need to be fever-free for 24 hours (without fever-reducing medication such as Tylenol, Advil or similar products) before being allowed to return to their normal campus routines, including moving back to their rooms or returning to their offices. We suspect that many residential students will want to recover at home where they can be more comfortable with family members to assist them.

You are strongly advised to increase your awareness of the good hygiene habits noted on the attached sign and to purchase portable hand sanitizers and sanitary wipes for your use (both on and off-campus) and whenever hand washing is not available. With the three-day weekend upon us, it is plausible that some of us will leave campus today and return next week with the flu.

Let's work together to keep each other healthy; this means distancing yourself from a friend who may be coughing and distancing yourself from others if you do not feel well. There's nothing personal about this; once this flu season passes, we'll have plenty of "well days" together to enjoy each others' company.

Christine

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Christine A. Ohl-Gigliotti, Ph.D.
Dean of Student Development
Wheeling Jesuit University
316 Washington Avenue
Wheeling, WV 26003
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christineog@wju.edu  
(304)243-2350 (phone)
(304)243-2352 (fax)