December 7, 2009
Student Health Services will hold it's last H1N1 flu clinic of the semester on Thursday, December 10, 2009 in the Campus Center. The clinic will begin at 11:30 am and will continue until supplies of the vaccine are depleted.
The Office of Health Services encourages all students who have not yet received the vaccine to come to this clinic.
November 6, 2009
Bard received an initial shipment of 200 doses and an additional shipment of 800 doses of the H1N1 vaccine. The Director of Health Services, Marsha Davis, is in constant contact with the New York State Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control and encourages parents to urge their students to get vaccinated. The vaccine is free to all students and is available at weekly flu clinics or by making an appointment with Health Services. All students receive notification emails with the times and locations of these clinics.September 29, 2009
According to the CDC and the New York State Department of Health, the H1N1 virus is increasing in New York State. The Northwest and Southeast remain the regions in the country with the highest number of cases. It is clear from surveillance, however, that the flu is moving into the Northeast in greater numbers.
We have only had a few isolated cases of H1N1 flu on campus since May of last semester. The students who had documented H1N1 flu have all fully recovered. There has not been a cluster or wave of cases. Treatment included bed rest, pushing fluids, and the use of over-the-counter fever reducer (NOT aspirin due to serious risk of Reyes Syndrome) as recommended by the CDC.
Based on CDC and New York Department of Health Guidelines, we are asking that all students who have an ILI (influenza like illness) leave campus for the duration of their illness when possible. Students who live relatively close to campus (within a 6 hour radius) should have family members take them home to prevent the spread of the flu on campus. No family members of the students we sent home with H1N1 acquired the illness. Contagion is much more likely in a residence hall setting. If leaving campus is not possible, students will be provided with alternative housing accommodations in a residence hall set aside for ill students. In the event that a large number of student cases occur at a rate that does not allow for alternative housing, the CDC and New York State Department of Health recommend that “students in a shared room should maintain a 6 foot separation to the degree possible” and both should practice strict hygienic precautions and that the ill student should wear a surgical mask.
We would like to reassure anxious and worried members of the Bard community, well or ill, that we are confronting a flu virus that is behaving like a seasonal flu. A large number of viruses, not flu, are currently circulating on campus. The most recurring illness on campus is an upper respiratory virus (the common cold). The hallmark of the flu that distinguishes itself from the common cold is a high fever (usually greater than 101°F) along with the body aches and dry cough. All students should have a thermometer and be able to monitor their temperatures. Students with fever (greater than 100F or 37.8C) should make an appointment to be seen at Health Services.
The seasonal flu vaccine is already available to students at Health Services. Faculty, staff, and students are welcome to get the seasonal flu vaccine at several flu clinics to be announced and held in October and November.
The H1N1 vaccine has been approved by the CDC with an estimated distribution date set by the New York State Department of Health for mid-October.
Students will be informed via e-mail as soon as the H1N1 vaccine is available. We strongly recommend students get the H1N1 vaccine as well as the seasonal flu vaccine.
Getting the vaccination for the H1N1 virus is taking a socially responsible action for the community. Mass vaccination, called herd immunity in public health, limits exposure of the virus to our most at risk populations (over 65, younger than 5, pregnant women, folks with diabetes, asthma, and other health conditions). The vaccine does not just protect you, it protects our community.
Let’s keep the community safe - get the vaccine as soon as it is available.
Marsha Davis, FNP, Director of Health Service
Barbara Jean Briskey, FNP, Associate Director
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