The Flu and You

If You Do Get Sick...

Seek immediate medical attention if you develop any of the following:

• shortness of breath or trouble breathing
• pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
• severe or persistent vomiting suddenly
• confusion or sudden dizziness
• flu symptoms that improve but then return with fever and worse cough

Activate the Personal Influenza Plan you made at the beginning of the semester.

• Get your own thermometer, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and tissues.
• Maintain your own supply of hand soap and/or gel hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol content).
• Put Student Health Services in your phone: 320-308-3191.
• Bookmark www.stcloudstate.edu/emergency/flu and watch it regularly. The only thing we can be certain of is that the situation will change throughout the semester, but we can’t predict exactly how, so you should keep checking for relevant updates.
• Make a Personal Influenza Plan. Do you have any health condition that might put you at higher risk for more severe illness (see list below). Where will you recuperate if you get sick? If you live alone, who will help if you need groceries or other suppliers brought to you? Where do you keep the contact info for everyone you should alert if you have to self-isolate (Instructors, employer, etc.)? Use the information on this 2-page sheet to help you think through your plan.
• “High-risk” medical conditions are defined as: asthma or other chronic pulmonary disease; cancer; cardiovascular disease; diabetes; pregnancy; weakened immune system; or kidney, liver, blood, or neurological disorders.
  
• Start a good hand washing habit. Always wash with soap or hand sanitizer for at least 20 seconds before eating, drinking, or preparing food; after using the bathroom; and if you cough or sneeze into a tissue.
• Practice coughing and sneezing into your sleeve. Viruses can’t stay viable as long or spread as easily from there as they can from your hands.
  
• Try to keep hands away from eyes, nose, and mouth. Wash hands more often if you smoke or bite your nails.
  
• Get your seasonal flu shot now Student Health Services no longer has vaccine available. Check with local clinics or pharmacies for availability.
  
• When H1N1 flu shots are offered, get them.
• If you are in close contact with someone who has the flu…don’t panic, and don’t blame. Influenza may be very common on campus this fall, and people may get sick despite their best efforts. Most students will not need to take any special actions based on ordinary exposure.
  However, students with “high-risk” conditions should call their healthcare providers promptly, as medication may be recommended in some cases to prevent influenza. For Health Services: (320) 308-3191.

Take your temperature. If you have a fever (100°F/37.8°C or higher), you must stay home from work and class until you have been completely fever-free (without fever-reducing medication) for at least 24 hours, and you feel well. For most people, this will be 3 to 5 days.

If you have a “high-risk” medical condition, call your health care provider. Although antiviral medications are not recommended for most healthy individuals, they are recommended for some “high-risk” cases and should be taken as soon as possible. High risk medical conditions include asthma or other chronic pulmonary disease; cancer; cardiovascular disease; diabetes; pregnancy; weakened immune system; or kidney, liver, blood, or neurological disorders.

Most people recover on their own without medical treatment. Drink fluids to stay hydrated, get plenty of rest, eat what you can, and use ibuprofen and acetaminophen, as directed, to manage fever and body aches. (Antibiotics do not have any effect because influenza is caused by a virus.) Call a health care provider if your symptoms are not improving after 3 to 4 days. Seek immediate medical attention if you experience any of the symptoms listed at the top of this page.

Go to your recuperation location. People with flu generally feel weak, achy, and fatigued for a few days to a week. Some people will be able to go home or to a nearby relative’s home to recuperate. This is strongly recommended for students living in University Housing; if you can relocate without using public transportation, please do so. If you will be staying in a household you share with others, avoid sharing common spaces with them while you’re sick. If you live alone, call a friend to bring supplies to your door rather than going shopping.

Try to stay in one room with the door closed. If someone is helping care for you, make sure that person does not have a “high-risk” condition, and always wear a surgical mask or bandana over your face while that person is in the room with you. If possible, use a separate bathroom while you are sick. Whenever you leave your room, use hand sanitizer before exiting, and keep your mouth covered until you are back in your room. Everyone in the household should wash their hands well and often and use disposable disinfectant wipes on high-touch shared surfaces, such as doorknobs, bathroom faucets, and refrigerator handles.

Communicate. Cancel any appointments (with your advisor, dentist, etc.), and contact your professors, TAs, and employer to let them know you have influenza symptoms and cannot return to class or at work until you’re better (including fever-free). As with any illness, you will be responsible for getting assignments you have missed and making arrangements to make up work after you recover. Faculty is being alerted that students are supposed to stay home if they are sick; and faculty is being asked to stay home from teaching if they get the flu. The CDC recommends not requiring notes to confirm illness or return to work/school.

Tell your “close contacts” you may have flu. That means roommates/housemates and officemates; also, any friends, lab partners, etc., that you spent time with in the 24 hours before you started to feel sick. They should monitor themselves for symptoms for 7 days and if any of them has a “high-risk” health condition, they can contact their healthcare provider right away for advice and possibly medication.

Self-Isolate. You should not go to the library, the Union, restaurants, or any social events, and you should avoid public transportation. If you go out, cover your nose and mouth with a surgical mask, bandana, or tissues; and shield others from coughs

Flu viruses typically survive on surfaces for 2 to 8 hours, so do not share towels, clothing, eating utensils, keyboards, remote controls, etc., while you are infectious.

When you recover, wash your own sheets and towels. Empty your wastebasket of used tissues, etc., and take out the trash yourself.

The good news? If the thing that made you sick was H1N1, you can’t get it again. But you can still catch colds, seasonal influenza, and other flu-like illnesses, so keep up the hand washing! Because you won’t necessarily know which virus made you sick, seasonal and H1N1vaccinations are still recommended.

Further questions can be emailed to SCSU Student Health Services at flu@stcloudstate.edu

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Phone: (320) 308-3151

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