JAIMIE FRANKLIN
News Assistant
A flu outbreak is spreading quickly throughout campus. On Monday, the Student Health Center sent an e-mail to all faculty and staff warning them to watch out for flu symptoms on campus and to keep contagious students out of class. An announcement was also posted on WaveNet.
While there have been a large number of cases in the Pepperdine community recently, they are similar to the number of cases seen in the Los Angeles community as a whole, according to physician assistant Jeni Whitlock.
The Health Center would not disclose information regarding the exact number of cases this year, but the outbreak is severe enough that the dean’s office informed faculty Monday.
“We were trying to help the Health Center maintain the health on campus,” said Janet Davis, assistant to the Seaver dean. “This is not something that we usually send out annually, but we felt like it was a way to work aggressively to get through the sickness.”
Sophomore Genvieve Ball, who has been sick with the flu for several days now, said she recently noticed a large number of students and professors coming down with the illness.
“I know the flu has been going around ever since we’ve started up school again,” Ball said in an e-mail. “Everyone has been sick … all of my friends and even my professors had to cancel or shorten class because they’ve caught it. I even know a few people who have had it more than once.”
Symptoms of the flu include the sudden onset of a high fever, headache, extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose and muscle aches. Ball said that her symptoms have been so bad that she had to be taken to the ER.
“I have hot and cold flashes, a pounding headache that never ceases, sore throat, plugged ears, puffy eyes, a gnarly cough, plugged nose, the whole nine yards.” she said. “My body and muscles were so weak and I was in such pain I could not get out of bed Tuesday morning.”
The flu spreads from person to person through “respiratory droplets” from coughing or sneezing. People can also become infected by touching something with the flu virus on it and then touching their mouth or nose.
According to the Health Center, the best way to prevent the flu is by getting the flu vaccine each fall.
The Health Center also urges those who are already infected to cough into their sleeves in order to trap the virus, rather than spreading it to others. Avoid stress and get a full night of sleep to maintain your immune system, the Health Center suggests.
The Health Center urges any students who may have been exposed to the virus or who are experiencing symptoms to make an appointment with a doctor, as there is an antiviral treatment that can slow the progression of the virus.
01-31-2008
