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Q. How can I protect myself against H1N1?
A. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends these individual health practices to reduce the risk of infection:
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective. Hand sanitizer is available at the entrance to Marketplace and in The Spencer Grill.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Try to avoid close contact with sick people. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person, through coughing or sneezing by infected people.
Q. Does the College have a plan to deal with an outbreak of H1N1?
A. Yes, the College has a campus preparedness plan that is based on guidelines from the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO). The detailed plan, which includes isolation procedures in the event of confirmed cases, will be activated depending on the level of severity and recommendation by the CDC.
Q. What should I do if I become ill with flu-like symptoms?
A. Persons who are ill should stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to avoid infecting them.
Q. Who determines if a student needs to be isolated?
A. A physician evaluates an ill student and recommends to the College Health Center that student should be isolated. Any student with flu-like symptoms should be evaluated by the College's Health Center.
Q. Can I go home if I become ill?
A. If students can return home via private transportation, they will be asked to go home. Otherwise, they will be isolated in their rooms and their roommate(s) will be given the option to move to another location or stay in the room. If many students are ill simultaneously, the College may house the ill students in a separate isolated facility.
Q. How long do I have to stay in my room if I've been isolated?
A. If you are sick with flu-like symptoms, remain in your room until 24 hours after your fever is gone without fever reducing medicine. Do not socialize with other people during your period of isolation. A mask needs to be worn when you leave your room to go to the bathroom or shower. This is for the protection of other students in your living area. While you are in isolation, please call the College Health Center at 641-269-3230 daily to let them know how you are doing. If you become short of breath or have some other symptom of concern after Health Center hours, please call 641-269-4600 and ask for the RLC on call to come and check on you.
Q. How do I get my meals if I am isolated?
A. A friend, RLC, or SA may go to the dining hall to get a bagged meal for you. The Health Center will be notifying Dining Services that you are ill and need this accommodation.
Q. Is there a cleaning plan for areas where infected persons live or have frequented (such as offices and classrooms)?
A. Facilities Management will perform routine cleaning and follow the following CDC cleaning guidelines for colleges and universities:
- Establish regular schedules for frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces (for example, bathrooms, doorknobs, elevator buttons, and tables).
- Provide disposable wipes so that commonly used surfaces (for example, doorknobs, keyboards, remote controls, desks) can be wiped down by students before each use.
- Encourage students to frequently clean their living quarters, including high-touch surfaces.
Q. What happens if students become ill when studying abroad?
A. Students should contact the program coordinator of the individual study abroad program.
Q. Will the College cancel classes and/or events if H1N1 is present on campus?
A. The College plans to continue classes and events as scheduled unless otherwise recommended by the Campus Emergency Response Committee and the Executive Advisory Group and approved by the College president. Should closures or cancellations occur, information will be shared through e-mail, text messages, and web based announcements.
Q. How can students, faculty, and staff be vaccinated for H1N1?
A. Grinnell Regional Public Health has scheduled H1N1 vaccination clinics
to distribute the vaccine to at risk individuals. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that the vaccine be made available on a priority basis. College-age students are among the recommended priority groups.
An authorization form is required to receive the vaccine at the Poweshiek County clinic.
Students may receive authorization through the Student Health Center,
faculty and staff should visit their private medical care provider.
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