By BRITTNEY FRENCH
When the first case of H1N1 appeared at Webster University in August, administrators began taking precautionary measures in order to stop the spread of influenza on campus.
Posters – urging students to stay home if they are ill – and hand sanitizer dispensers were placed throughout campus, and an emergency meal system was created by Dining Services, Housing and Residential Life (ResLife) and Student Health Services (SHS) to help deliver meals to sick students who remain on isolation in residence halls.
But as the number of H1N1 and seasonal flu cases continue to increase at WU, some students on isolation have not been receiving meals through the emergency system.
John Buck, associate dean of students and director of ResLife, said only a few students have not received a sick tray because there have been some imperfections with the system.
“There have been a few glitches with our process,” he said. “It’s a fairly new system and there have been situations where there wasn’t enough communication.”
Buck said most of the problems occurred with the system because meal forms were not marked and dated correctly and some students did not select which meals needed to be delivered.
Buck also said one form was misplaced during the process and a few students did not want to receive a meal from Dining Services because of their menu.
“We currently have been working with Dining Services to develop a meal plan to deliver to sick students,” Buck said. “Students fill out a form that indicates when and what meals will be delivered.”
Any student who has a campus meal plan with Sodexho, the company WU uses for food services, can have four meals delivered a day while sick.
While more students are becoming sick at WU, Residential Life and dining services have been working close together to fix any issue with the emergency meal system so the same problems do not come up again and students are delivered the appropriate meal.
“It’s not a perfect system, and there are still glitches,” Ann Brohphy, director of SHS, said to a journalism class Nov. 13. “(Res. Life is) really working hard to make it a perfect system and with more problems that arise with it, they are always revamping and changing it. It’s a new system.”
While the sick tray program is new to WU this semester, other colleges and universities nationwide, such as Central Michigan University (CMU), have had an emergency meal system for 29 years, according to the CMU Web site.
Jenni Taylor, a sophomore Spanish and education major and resident assistant (RA) for West Hall, said students need to let their RA or a professional staff member know they are sick so they can be taken care of appropriately and have sick trays delivered.
In a survey conducted by the American College Health Association, a total of 8,951 new influenza-like cases were reported among colleges campuses. Ninety-eight percent of 265 colleges and universities reported new influenza like illnesses. Since August, there have been nearly 74,000 cases nationwide and more than 110 cases of H1N1 at WU.
“It’s getting hectic,” Buck said. “There are more and more students presenting influenza-like illnesses to the Student Health Services department each day.”
In order to prevent the transmission of influenza, WU’s SHS department suggested avoiding contact with those who are ill, washing hands frequently with soap and water, using proper respiratory etiquette and covering your cough. SHS also recommends receiving annual flu vaccinations and isolation from others if experiencing flu-like symptoms.
All students, faculty and staff at WU with Type A or Type B influenza virus or flu-like symptoms are encouraged to contact the SHS department at (314) 246-6922 so the medical staff can monitor the prevalence and prevent the spread of the virus on campus.
