Camosun preparing for potential outbreak of swine flu
With fears of swine flu making this year’s cold and flu season extra concerning, and a recent fatality at the Victoria General Hospital from the H1N1 virus, Camosun College has been busy readying for a potential outbreak. The college has implemented new hand sanitizers across both campuses, as well as a campaign involving posters and online updates.
Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the H1N1 virus (swine flu) was a threat to become a global pandemic, cases of H1N1 infection have steadily risen.
In April, Camosun, in conjunction with Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), assembled a pandemic response team to deal with swine flu and any possible outbreak at the campus or on the island.
“Given the size of the college community and the fact that the average age of our student population is one of the demographic groups that seem to be more likely to be affected, we are likely to feel the effects to some greater or lesser degree,” says College and Community relations director Susan Haddon.
Swine flu made its first appearance in 1976. Despite the hype and hysteria surrounding the potential risk of a pandemic, the threat faded as quickly as it had emerged.
In the years since, there have been other viruses to catch the attention of the world, such as Avian flu and SARS. Viruses attributed to animals as diverse as horses, birds, chickens, and even monkeys have each garnered headlines in recent years. In those cases, the pandemic threat never emerged.
With the threat of Avian flu and SARS having come and gone, the resurgence of swine flu doesn’t yet appear to have caused a panic among sedate Canadian citizens. So far the student body of Camosun seems largely unconcerned about the threat of swine flu.
“No, I’m not really worried at all,” says Nursing student Kendra Bruly, summing up the viewpoint of many on campus. Even more surprisingly, few were even aware of the college’s health and information updates.
One voice on campus that is concerned, however, is that of Linda Scotten, a Biology instructor whose class on infectious diseases has become infused with a sense of urgency. “I believe that there will be cases of H1N1 this fall,” she says.
Scotten is optimistic that, should the college endure an outbreak, “the numbers won’t be high enough to impact operations at Camosun.” According to stats published by the WHO, 40 percent of those known to have died from swine flu were “young and previously healthy.”
Scotten’s concerns have been heightened by a recent, large-scale outbreak of flu-like virus similar to swine flu at Washington State University.
“Because Camosun doesn’t have students living in residences on campus, we probably won’t have the rapid spread and high numbers that they are experiencing,” says Scotten.
The WHO and other agencies tracking the virus around the globe have expressed concerns that this year’s flu season could lead to a precipitous spike in H1N1 cases. Already, the United States, among other countries, has readied batches of flu vaccines in preparation for large numbers of cases. So far, however, the Canadian government has made no such movement.
According to Scotten, students in the health care programs don’t face more risk or exposure than other students.
“Infection control is such an important part of any health-care program,” she says. “I would expect that the rate of infection in these students would be much lower than the general student population.”
Meanwhile, Haddon believes that, although the risk of an H1N1 outbreak is serious enough to warrant education, there’s no need for the student body to panic.
“We are planning for significant flu-related absence, but hope that the actual effects on our campus community are relatively few,” says Haddon.
In the meantime, students are asked to wash their hands often. As well, those who may feel a little under the weather should do their classmates and colleagues a favour and just stay home.
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