A Cal State Long Beach student received a “probable positive” test result for swine flu.
The Long Beach Health Department is waiting for the final determination of the student’s test results and has declared a local health emergency.
The LBHD informed the university of the affected student late Tuesday, and early Wednesday morning CSULB President F. King Alexander sent a campus-wide e-mail with information about the student, symptoms of swine flu and a hotline for anyone to call if they have any questions specific to swine flu.
The student is reported to have not attended class since Thursday.
The student who may have been infected lived in the Los Alamitos residence hall. The roommate of the possibly infected student has been moved to a different room where she will remain until further notice.
According to Pubic Affairs Assistant Vice President Toni Beron, the university is not planning on releasing the name of the student because of privacy issues. She said students who had class with the individual “have the knowledge as much as they have,” and that releasing the name “doesn’t change the fundamental right of the individual.”
The university temporarily canceled classes the individual attended.
“I received an e-mail from my teacher and the student enrollment services this morning saying that my history class was cancelled. The student had symptoms and is waiting for test results,” said Katelyn Nelson, a freshman undeclared.
Beron said the university is partnering with LBHD and sent an e-mail to the campus late Wednesday afternoon asking students to update their information through the Emergency Notification System.
“We take these kind of reasons that are really good reasons for us to be able to contact you at any given moment,” Beron said.
Aside from sending out campus-wide e-mails on symptoms and general “good-health habits,” she said the university is taking extra precautions in dealing with the swine flu. She said facilities maintenance is making sure that all soap dispensers are being filled with anti-bacterial soaps and the frequency of custodial service is being increased.
Beron also advises the campus community to go the csulb.edu homepage under “Medical Advisories” to get more information. She said if any more reports are made, “we will let the campus know.”
The university has a “Pandemic Business Continuity” plan, which was developed three years ago during avian flu concerns. The plans define individual and general responsibilities, including how to keep the community informed, and details on increasing medical services, staff and staff hours.
Residents of Los Alamitos said they are not overly concerned about catching the virus.
“I’m not too worried about it,” said junior liberal studies major Stacey Burkhardt. “The health center is right up the street so if I ever start to feel flu-like symptoms I will definitely go there first. I feel safe because the cleaning staff does a really good job around the dorms, I’ve been washing my hands a lot more and if I feel sick I know that I have to take care of it right away.”
Burkhardt’s roommate had the same feeling and did not feel threatened by the virus.
Junior kinesiology major Suzanne Wen said, “I’m not too worried either because most the cases in the U.S. have been pretty mild and only one person has died.”
Jillian Sciancalepore, a freshman pre-nursing major, lives on the third floor of Los Alamitos.
“Since I have heard about the flu possibly going around our dorm I was a bit nervous, but I already knew that most cases of the flu were mild, so I feel I can fight it,” Sciancalepore said. “There hasn’t been much talk about the flu in dorms, but they have made some initiative to put signs up in the bathrooms and in hallways. Learning that this flu could possibly be spreading has made me more aware of my surroundings.”
According to the LBHD website, “We are updating physicians and other medical providers and encouraging them to test any patients that may be experiencing any influenza-like illness, including but not limited to fever, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.”
A receptionist in the administrative office of the Student Health Services center said Wednesday morning that Director Michael Carbuto was in Alexander’s office. She said that Carbuto had advised the staff to refer any questions regarding swine flu to the public affairs administration.
If feeling any of the symptoms, “Go to the health center and make sure,” Beron said. The doctor’s there “can tell pretty quickly if you have flu-like symptoms.”
Some students are fearful of contracting the flu virus on campus.
Joe Cannon, a freshman communications major and resident at the Parkside J building, said he heard about swine flu for the first time Wednesday morning.
“When I heard that it could be spreading around campus I was shocked and nervous about me getting the flu,” Cannon said. “We haven’t had any meetings in our dorms, but we have been getting tons of e-mails [from the university].”
Sofia Yassine, a freshman journalism major and dorm resident, said she heard about the swine flu this weekend.
“My dad had told me to watch out for it … Now that I know about it I am very scared especially when knowing that when one girl gets sick in our dorms, four or five girls get sick,” she said. “It makes me mad because no one is making any effort to talk about it in the dorms. When I get to see my suite-mate I am definitely going to tell her about what’s going on.”
One student said he is already trying to take precautions to avoid getting swine flu.
“I got scared when I read the e-mail from President Alexander saying that a person in the dorms might have it,” said Jose Torres, a senior hospitality food service and hotel management major. “You never know who might have it around you, you need to be cautious. I wash my hands often and I am trying not to shake hands with people.”
If you are concerned about swine flu, call the CSULB hotline at (562) 985-1460.
Sofie Kinnefors, Ross McCafferty, Ashley Covert and Matthew Mesa contributed to this report.
Guffaw, the CDC warns to avoid large groups of people and I can see why by the photo. I’ll bet none of them (especially the ones with their hands holding the masks) washed their hands. And they’re huddled together breathing in each others’ faces. It kind of reminds me of the Malcolm in the Middle episode where the nerds realize Reese is stalking them, so they huddle in a little panic cluster.
LOL “blah blah” the girl in the middle thinks it’s an ear ring and the one on the far right thinks it’s one side of a bra. Maybe the masks should come with better instructions.
The kids in the group photo (far left and second from the right) crack me up. Those flimsy little masks don’t help much, but are less effective if they only cover your mouth and not your nose. It makes me wonder if they know how to wash their hands. Stay away from them because they’re probably carriers.
Anytime you get these image-protecting messages from the university, understand they are in self-protection mode. Much like the World Health Organization and the CDC downplayed the potential for a pandemic one day and cried the sky is falling the next, the university will minimize risk potential, then say “Whoops, sorry” as students start dropping like flies. My e-mail told me to stay our of classes if I feel sick, but they don’t back it up with telling me they will cover my tuition if I have to retake classes for another semester. I so want out of here, but if I catch the piggy flu, I’ll need to stick around and accumulate more student loans if I stay home. Fat chance for that. If I get sick I’m still going to class, so y’all might wish to be truant because you’re the ones who gave it to me.
I must step off of the diving board and reveal the name of the student… It was Typhoid Mary. Whew, I feel better now, cough.
Humans should stop having sex with other species of animals.
To those who want to downplay the possible severity of this flu, consider this: Luckily, it is not flu season for us…not yet anyway. And neither was it flu season when the 1918 Influenza was first detected as a possible pandemic….That virus did not take its toll on the world’s people until flu season came around….meaning late fall/winter. What this tells us is that we are months away from knowing how serious this new influenza will be. It could be terrible or it could be relatively mild. Only time will tell. Assuming that it prove to be mild, the chances of it mutating into something severe for which we don’t have a vaccine are still quite possible. So what I’m saying is that we should not be so fast to discard a “bad” case scenario. After all, to assume that we humans are somehow immune from all things devastating is outright hubris.
LIFE and LIVING are not now or ever been risk free endeavors.It is unfortunate that a community comprised of
men,women and CHILDREN lack acumen sufficient to evaluate situations to determine just how imminent the
crashing of the sky atop their heads might be.Severity of and incidence of ill consequence of flu should be measured by all.
Ok, I get this whole situation is a serious one…yes…I concede and give that one point up to all the people who are concerned below this comment…
But really people, serious or not you have to calm down! The way you guys are talking about the issue is bringing it up to a full blown case of hysteria! As long as everyone takes some regular precautions…you know…practice some normal clean habits like we should be then we should all be ok.
good, thorough reporting!
Seriously people? Bad hygiene? Immune young bodies? I live in the same dorm hall as the girl, and she was actually my roomate last semester! She, ironically, is a germaphobe. It’s unfortunate that she’s ill and it’s not because she was ‘laid back’.
It’s funny to see the poor hygiene present in our school. I’m amazed that more people don’t have this disease.
It’s easy to be callous with your own life when you feel bulletproof as a young person. You think you’re immune because of your young healthy bodies. These types of flu bacteria don’t give a crap about who they latch onto as a host. I would advise that you use every precaution; if not for yourself, then for the younger children and older people who don’t have the same levels of immunity. Think about your own little brothers/sisters and grandparents. Good hygiene and caution won’t kill you, even when a major virus isn’t a threat.
the problem here is that this “concern” will turn into “hysteria”. i’d like to apologize regarding the stereotype on behalf of the “laid back” citizens of long beach. it must be all these doobies we’ve been huffin’
Typical Long Beach “Laid Back” attitude is what I find worrisome. This flu is much different from any normal flu in that it seems to be more fatal in the 20-50 age group. If you are a healthy 21 year old with a relatively high high immune system you SHOULD be concerned. It is your high immune system that is likely to work against you……And when you read that the roommate and other dorm neighbors of the possibly infected student are “not too worried,” then you know that we’re in for some major trouble.
Long Beach, for once cast your all too laid back attitude aside and grasp the reality of this now level 5 influenza.
Looks like there isnt gonna be no more spring break girls gone wild, lmao.
keyword here is “may”
With regards to the last three posters…this is why elementary schools should not leave their computers unattended during recess.
Like, oh mah gawd. I am totally fa-reaking, people!
See thats what you dont go to Mexico for Spring Break. Loser!
Zombieeeeeesss!!!!!!!!!!