As Influenza A (H1N1), formerly termed “swine flu,” attracts international media coverage and concern from health organizations, members of the Luther College community are on constant guard to limit the virus’s potential effect on campus.

Part of the college’s response was to inform and monitor a group of Luther students and faculty who were in Mexico City during the virus’s initial outbreak.

Brennan Harvey (‘09) and Xander Jeanneret (‘09), along with Professor of Dance Jane Hawley and Assistant Professor of Dance Amanda Hamp, participated in an international dance festival in Mexico City in mid-April.

Jerry Johnson, director of public information, updated the group regarding H1N1 during their stay in Mexico City. He also notified them, after their return, of the request by Winneshiek County Department of Health that they be in isolation until they were officially asymptomatic.

Luther College complied with the request, though it had already been determined that no one in the group had contracted the virus.

“We were 100 percent certain that they weren’t exposed,” Johnson said. The group did not show any symptoms, though members of the group did have contact with others before the quarantine.

“I interacted with quite a few people before I was quarantined, as I had rehearsals,” Jeanneret said.

The group’s quarantine lasted only a few hours.

“We were being cautious,” said JoEllen Anderson, nurse practioner at Luther’s Health Services.

While H1N1 can impact any close-knit community, college environments are ideal situation for the spread of contagious disease, necessitating caution.

“The college campus is the best design for the most rapid spread of disease,” Johnson said. According to Johnson, shared living spaces, eating spaces, bathrooms, and air systems as well as large fluid groups of people allow everybody at Luther to have contact with everyone else within 48 hours.

Luther College has two epidemiologists constantly monitoring the situation. Nicholas Kelley ’05, environmental PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota and Dr. Mike Osterholm ‘75, one of the world’s foremost epidemiologists, are both monitoring and helping with the situation. Kelley has been working with the college for two years.

“We’ve had this risk assessment person in place,” Johnson said.

According to Johnson, Kelley is monitoring three pertinent aspects of H1N1: virulence, rapidity of its spread, and regional presence. The combination on an hour-to-hour basis will constitute when Luther enacts their pandemic response plan. The choice to enact Luther’s response does not rely on the World Health Organization’s crisis levels, though these levels do serve as markers.

“If it’s virulent enough and the spread is fast enough and it has a high possibility of spreading into the region, we would close the college for the semester,” Johnson said. “We don’t know what we would do about commencement in that case.”

The college would not have the resources to deal with a mass outbreak.

“Luther College is not equipped and does not have the personnel to deal with lots of sick students,” Johnson said. “Chances of exposure are incredibly lower if you’re at home, and you’re in a better care situation.”

Johnson reiterated the response plan’s utmost goal.

“Our objective is to make students as safe as possible,” he said.

According to the Center for Disease Control’s Web site as of Monday, one case of H1N1 has been confirmed in Iowa, but the cases of H1N1 have been relatively mild in the U.S. Anderson highlighted the reason why H1N1 makes health care providers nervous.

“This particular strain is a combination of swine, bird and human influenza,” Anderson said. “It’s probably just another element of normal influenza, but the fact that it’s a combination of the three makes it unique and is why it’s getting attention for the CDC and WHO”

According to Anderson, advice regarding H1N1 is evolving based on CDC recommendations. These recommendations are changing from week to week as the CDC learns more about this strain of influenza.

“Even though we’re nervous about this, it’s a good opportunity to remind people about the importance of good hand washing and good cough etiquette,” Anderson said. “Those things can’t be stressed enough.”

Handwashing and cough etiquette, termed as universal precautions, are emphasized by the Center for Disease Control as the most effective way of limiting the virus’s spread.

Social distancing is also an effective way of limiting the virus’s spread. Social distancing is an individual’s choice to avoid other’s who may have been exposed to any contagious disease, in this case those who may have had contact with the virus or even people who do not use proper coughing etiquette.

National and international news media may be sensationalizing H1N1 impact.

“For those of us that have to do pandemic planning, we’re a little annoyed, to say the least, at the hype,” Johnson said. Comparing the H1N1 strain to the yearly influenza epidemics in the U.S. highlights the media’s potential overemphasis.

“We want to remain calm and keep it in perspective,” Anderson said. She says that part of this perspective is acknowledging that last year’s influenza epidemic in the U.S. killed 36,000 people. According to Johnson, the average influenza deaths in the U.S. from 1971 to 2001 was 47,400 people. People most at risk with H1N1, like most other influenzas, are the old and young.

“The chance of college students dying from this is very low,” Johnson said.

Luther’s Public Information Office will continue to monitor the situation and contact students via their Norsemail accounts.

“Through the coming two weeks, we will keep students informed,” Johnson said.

Johnson emphasized Anderson’s prevention advice.

“Be wise and do some social distancing on your own,” Johnson said. “Social distancing and universal precautions will save you a lot of grief later on.