MC Responds to Swine Flu Concerns
"We care about you" is the message on new signs posted around the Mississippi College campus in Clinton.
Posted this week on doors leading to the MC cafeteria, in Nelson Hall restrooms and other building locations, the signs are filled with health tips from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control about the H1N1 flu virus.
With swine flu cases spreading around the nation and other countries, the CDC is urging people to take the following precautions:
--wash hands often with soap
--avoid contact with sick people
--avoid touching one's eyes and nose
--stay home from school or work if you are sick
--cover your nose and mouth with tissue when sneezing.
Those are some of the tips people should follow. There is cause for concern. In Mississippi, there have been 413 cases of the H1N1 flu confirmed by the state Department of Health since May 15. The new virus first caused illness in Mexico and the U.S. in March and April 2009. By June 19, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported the H1N1 infection.
In a front-page story in The Clarion-Ledger Thursday, there were swine flu cases reported at a number of schools and universities, including Mississippi State, Southern Miss and Ole Miss, the Vicksburg-Warren public schools and Lee County school district.
But health officials don't recommend any school closings at this time, the newspaper said.
Mississippi College students begin classes Aug. 26. A number of football, soccer and volleyball players have taken part in pre-season practices on the Clinton campus in recent days.
"We are continuing to monitor the situation and staying in touch with the CDC and Department of Health," MC School of Nursing Dean Mary Jean Padgett said Thursday. "Like the CDC says the main thing is good hygiene," she said. "If you are sick, stay home."
In coming weeks, there should be more hand sanitizers placed on the Clinton campus at the MC cafeteria and other locations.
There are already a dozen hand sanitizer stations at the Baptist Healthplex. And the fitness staff regularly sprays down the equipment, said Keith Montgomery, the facility's marketing director.
Given the ongoing H1N1 activity, the CDC anticipates that there will be more cases, many serious, in the U.S. over the fall and winter months.
Chris Washam, the MC kinesiology department chairman, said he will get the swine flu vaccine as well as the regular flu vaccine in October. He said his two children who attend Clinton schools will get the shots, too.
The MC professor is taking other precautions. "I always use hand sanitizer," he said, referring to his regular workouts at the Baptist Healthplex.
Aware of the growing concerns about swine flu, MC senior Carrie Kirk of Madison, an MC Lady Choctaws soccer player, recently worked at a youth summer camp in Texas. "We would hand sanitize all the time."
The CDC says the priority for millions of Americans expected to receive swine flu vaccines in the fall will be pregnant women, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, emergency personnel and healthcare providers.
As of June 2009, the H1N1 virus has spread to more than 70 countries.
For more information on stopping the spread of germs, go to www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/stopgerms.htm. For those who get the flu go to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/sick.htm.
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