Dr. Peter Gott offers sound medical answers to reader questions in the new Lifestyles section...
By KIM SMITH DEDAM
PAUL SMITHS — The many students in area colleges are considered more at risk than the outlying population should H1N1 flu strike the area.
Stacked in dormitory rooms, college-age young adults often stay up late, socialize in large groups and don't eat nutritiously.
H1N1, more commonly known as swine flu, is expected to make a stout resurgence this flu season.
All area colleges drafted plans over the summer to allow students to be isolated for four to seven days of secluded rest should they develop symptoms and can't get home.
EMPTY DORM READY
"We're expecting there will be a whole lot of H1N1 out there," said Reiko Rexilius-Tuthill, a registered nurse who is director of health services at Paul Smith's College, where the 40-room Alumni Hall has been retrofit for flu recovery.
The empty dormitory looks a little like a vacant military barracks, aligned in one straight row.
The rooms are plain and clean, with freshly painted walls and new carpet. Beds are fitted with crisp white sheets and warm blankets.
A common living-room area has extra supplies of water and the sort of snacks people who are ill want most: crackers and ginger ale.
Each of 10 sick-bay suites has a single desktop computer and telephone to help students stay connected.
Four rooms in each suite will be filled first as singles, then as doubles or quadruples, if necessary, in rotation.
Rexilius-Tuthill isn't sure how many cases of flu the tightly knit campus of roughly 600 students will see.
But she is ready.
"Anything that looks like the flu coming in here is going to be treated like H1N1. We will help students ride it out."
So far, most people around the United States who have contracted H1N1 have recovered with three to four days rest, she said.
"Parents are encouraged to come and get their child, but if they can't, we'll ask which option they would like us to take. Students can self-isolate in their dorm room, if they live in a single. If not, we will try to get them isolated as quickly as possible to help lessen risk to the rest of the community."
ADVICE FOR STUDENTS
Rexilius-Tuthill is also urging that students with sneezes and sniffles wear a surgical face mask to reduce the spray of germs. A basket of the white strips sits in the entrance to the Student Health Center beside a punchbowl-sized push-dispenser of hand sanitizer.
Posters warn students to sneeze into their elbows and keep six feet from ill students.
Awareness is the first hurdle in this battle, Rexilius-Tuthill said.
"We're asking them to exercise caution if they're not feeling right. We're here to say, 'Let us help you with that.'"
Onset of flu is signaled by a fever of 100 degrees or more, cough, sore throat, among other symptoms.
Medical staff will check on isolated students daily.
"We will reassess their condition on a regular basis and allow students back into classes after a 24-hour period with no fever without the aid of medications like ibuprofen or Tylenol," Rexilius-Tuthill said.
Any students who develop serious complications or high-risk cases of flu will be moved, likely by taxi, to area hospitals for treatment.
Philip Fiaccio, campus safety officer, coordinated the college's flu-disaster management plan.
He said complications apply to any student who is non-responsive, lethargic or responding inappropriately to rest or students with respiratory difficulties or vomiting.
VACCINATIONS
North Country flu season hits hardest in February.
By then, college communities will have dispensed several rounds of flu vaccine.
"We're encouraging the seasonal flu vaccine without H1N1 in it to stop regular flu from being part of the outbreak," Rexilius-Tuthill said.
The H1N1 vaccine will be provided later. Paul Smith's College expects that vaccine to arrive from Franklin County health officials sometime in early December.
"The County Health Department may or may not be able to help us administer vaccine," Rexilius-Tuthill said, "with a heavy emphasis on the may not."
CCC PLAN READY
Vaccine is a front-line response at all area colleges.
Registered nurse Nicole A. Powers, support services nurse for the 2,100 students at Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh, said they put a pandemic plan together last semester for students with flu symptoms to self-isolate.
She has set up a walk-in clinic for CCC students to get seasonal flu vaccine on Oct. 13.
AT PSU, SICK GO HOME
Health officials at Plattsburgh State, a community of some 6,000 students, established protocol recommending students go home if they come down with flu symptoms.
"We sent a letter home to parents asking that, if possible, they come pick their student up, for two reasons: so they can get good, symptomatic care at home and because we are trying to isolate the sick from the well," said Dr. Kathleen Camelo, Plattsburgh State's director of the center for student health and psychological services.
"If students can't go home, we have some alternate housing planned to assist with self-isolation."
Plattsburgh State had seen a very small number of influenza-like illnesses, Camelo said.
"When the (H1N1) vaccine becomes available, we will be assisting, under the guidance of State Department of Health, in giving vaccinations on campus."
NCCC SELF-ISOLATES
North Country Community College Director of Life and Student Services Bobbie Karp addressed slightly different circumstances for a more transient population.
There are about 2,000 students living on or commuting to and from NCCC campuses in Ticonderoga, Malone and Saranac Lake.
"It's an ongoing process," Karp said, "we're certainly working closely with Essex and Franklin County Public Health and will report any illnesses to them.
"Our dorm set-up is unique in that it has individual suites. Students can self-isolate in their own room if necessary.
"If they can get home safely, we'll encourage that. But if students can't get home, we will work with them — even if they live in apartments around town — to make sure their personal needs are being met."
Karp reiterated the importance of student health and well-being, not just to prevent flu but for a successful academic year.
"A lot of it is education, education, education and awareness. It's not just a lesson about H1N1 flu outbreak; we're looking at how we handle all types of emergency situations, working closely with the community.
"What we're doing now has set us up for the future, whether it's a natural disaster or another contagion. We've got the building blocks in place."
E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com
