Daily Skiff

The university has treated a total of 185 students with type A influenza, or about 2 percent of the student population, and six of those cases were confirmed by county health officials to be H1N1, a university official said.

Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs, wrote in a campuswide e-mail Wednesday that the number of severe flu cases remains at zero. About three-fourths of those diagnosed with type A influenza have recovered, he wrote.

Of the 10 confirmed H1N1 cases on campus, four were self-reported over the summer, according to the e-mail.

The Brown-Lupton Health Center has also treated an additional 181 cases of influenza-like illnesses, with diagnoses ranging from allergies to late summer colds, Mills wrote.

Tom Skinner, senior public affairs officer for the CDC, wrote in an e-mail that the H1N1 vaccine should become available by mid-October.

Lisa Albert, associate director of communications, said the annual free flu vaccine clinic will go forward regardless of whether the university has the H1N1 vaccine. When the H1N1 vaccine arrives, it will be administered in two dosages on separate occasions, she said.

Nowell Donovan, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said he has had 22 out of 109 students in his geology class become ill with flu-like symptoms, but most recover after a few days.

According to a recent Inside Higher Ed article, the number of students with flu-like symptoms on the University of Kansas campus totals 266. Kansas prepared for H1N1 by passing out handouts that focused on how to diagnose the flu and how to handle living on-campus if infected.

Louisiana State University and the University of Alabama have seen multiple cases affiliated with the same sorority, according to the article. Ill students at Amherst College in western Massachusetts are to be housed in three vacant dorms with 75 beds, the article stated.

According to The Denver Post, the University of Colorado at Boulder has had some faculty members advise sick students to drop classes. The university discouraged that action and wants professors to help students make up their work. The Post reported the university has had 50 confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus among students.

Update on the flu

Type A influenza: 185 cases

Confirmed H1N1: Six cases since school started; four cases reported over the summer

Flu-like illnesses not diagnosed as type A: 181

Illness length of type A influenza cases: Two to four days

Type A influenza recovery at TCU: 75 percent of those diagnosed

Numbers provided by Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs.

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