H1N1 Lightens Up
An encouraging decline in cases, here and nationally
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In the video above, after realizing that dogs, even mascots, can come down with flu, Rhett learns what to do.
The number of Boston University students living in isolation because of a diagnosis of influenza-like illness (ILI) has dropped to four, according to Peter Fiedler, vice president for administrative services and chairman of the University’s H1N1 Task Force. That number is down from a high of 24 in mid-October.
The drop mimics a nationwide decline in the number of visits to doctors for suspected flu, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency has seen a two-week decline in the number of visits after four consecutive weeks of sharp increases. At the same time, the CDC reports, the number of hospitalizations for confirmed flu cases continues to rise.
The CDC’s most recent national estimate puts the number of H1N1 cases from April to October 17 at somewhere between 14 million and 34 million.
Fiedler (COM’77) says the University has had 370 reported cases of ILI since September, which puts the infection rate among BU students at about one percent. A recent survey of New England colleges, he says, found infection rates from zero to 8 percent, with an average of 3.4 percent. He attributes the lower than average infection rate here to the use of hand sanitizers, which have been installed in many campus buildings.
BU has received 300 doses of H1N1 vaccine, Fiedler adds, which are being administered in accordance with CDC guidelines: pregnant women first, caregivers in households with young children second, and health-care personnel third.
More information is available here and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Situation Update.
Art Jahnke can be reached at jahnke@bu.edu. Robin Berghaus can be reached at berghaus@bu.edu.
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