Faculty & Staff

• Contact the Student Health Center at (740) 373-0792 and follow their instructions.
• Contact the Office of Student Life at ext. 4736 to be excused from class and to also arrange for food and fluids to be delivered to your residence hall. The College will also provide you with a means of taking your temperature, that needs to be reported daily to Linda See in Student Life at ext. 4736, while you are isolated in your room.
• Identify a "Buddy" who will check on you each day and:
    
  • Go to the store for you for supplies and medications
    
  • Be sure that you have food and water
   
  • Deliver class assignments

"While none of these cases has been confirmed as H1N1, we are following the protocol mandated by the CDC, which calls for all reported out-of-season flu symptoms to be treated with the greatest caution possible,” said Gloria Stewart, chair of the College’s health task force. “We’ll continue to monitor this very closely, but the most effective way for us to approach the challenge of keeping the majority of our students free from a virus is by isolating students who are not feeling well.

Stewart added that it is reasonable to expect to see more cases in the future. With this in mind, it is very important that you do the following to help stop the spread of this illness.

• Stay home (and away from classes) and limit interaction with other people (called "self-isolation"), except to seek medical care.
• Do not return to class for 24-48 hours after being fever-free (without using a fever-reducing medicine).
• Students with a private room, or those who cannot leave campus, should remain in their room and receive care and meals from a single person. Students can establish a "flu buddy scheme," in which students pair up to care for each other if one or the other becomes ill. If close contact with others cannot be avoided, the ill student should wear a surgical mask during the periods of contact.
• Promptly seek medical attention if you have a medical condition that puts you at increased risk of severe illness from flu, you are concerned about your illness, or you develop severe symptoms, such as increased fever, shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, or rapid breathing.

We encourage everyone to take precautions in order to stay healthy and to do your part in keeping the community safe. Public health authorities recommend the following:

• Get a regular seasonal flu shot!
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Frequently wash your hands with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth, as germs spread more easily that way.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick. If you get sick, the CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Symptoms of Novel Influenza A (H1N1) are similar to seasonal influenza and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Some people have also reported diarrhea and vomiting. Students experiencing flu-like symptoms should call the Student Health Center at (740) 373-0792. Faculty and staff members should contact their health-care providers.