ANGELA CLODFELTER

News Reporter

Imagine you’re a nursing student and you have to have a clinical in the hospital. You walk in and immediately are coughed on by a patient who looks pale, tired and ill. The germs from that patient are then spread all over your hands, and without thinking, you cover your nose to block a sneeze.

With those germy hands, you wipe the dripping snot off of your face and then high-five your best friends. This all would transfer that ill patient’s flu-like symptoms to you, your friend and your friend’s professor.

But what if you were mandated to get an H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccine? You then would have had a better chance of avoiding any flu-like

symptoms.

Creighton University has mandated that all university health care employees and students in clinical settings, as well as child-care workers, be vaccinated for seasonal and H1N1 influenzas by Dec. 1, paid for by the University.

So far this semester Creighton has been able to administer 500 H1N1 vaccine doses to students. On Wednesday, the Center for Health and Counseling exhausted Creighton’s supply of both H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines, causing the cancellation of the scheduled student flu vaccine clinic, Debra C. Saure, director of Health Services, said in a campus-wide e-mail. Health Services will make announcements to students when H1N1 vaccine is available.

Creighton University was among the first eight institutions nationally to be recognized for the “stellar” examples of vaccination mandates in the health care setting. This measure will take steps in preventing the transmission of influenza from unvaccinated to vaccinated individuals in their working and learning environment.

“Prevention efforts by the individuals in our community remains to be the biggest key to our success in keeping everyone healthy,” said Tanya Winegard, assistant vice president for Student Life. “To date, the majority of students, faculty and staff that are required to be vaccinated have received their seasonal

flu vaccine.”

Creighton is committed to getting the vaccine to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-targeted populations just as soon as it is made available to the university. So far, the Shoo the Flu at CU Clinics have given 3,000 students seasonal flu vaccine.

“I had to call to find out when the vaccine was available, since I am required to have it,” Arts & Sciences junior Colleen Dunn said. “I might have already had H1N1 because I was sick for a week, but taking preventative measures is a beneficial step.”

It is unclear how many students, staff and faculty at Creighton have actually had H1N1 because the CDC stopped testing every person that went to his or her health care provider with flu-like symptoms.

“What I can tell you is that since the beginning of the academic year, Health Services has advised 108 students to socially isolate, and of those students 52 tested positive for Influenza A, so we presume that they had the H1N1 flu,” Winegard said.

Creighton has a Communicable Disease Response Plan, which incorporates using the FitNest for alternative temporary housing for students. Creighton has since reopened the FitNest, but may have to reclose it as alternative temporary housing for ill students that live in residence halls with communal bathrooms if student health sees an increase in

flu-like illnesses.

“Many students that were asked to socially isolate themselves were able to recover from their illness at home, instead of needing to be isolated on campus,” Winegard said.

“I tested positive for H1N1 and have spent the last few weeks recovering from it. I still have this lingering cough though,” said Arts & Sciences junior Daniel Meeker.

So far, Creighton believes it has confronted the H1N1 pandemic and has kept it under raps.

The University will continue to e-mail boxes updates and developments as they occur.