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UW-Eau Claire student health services says dozens of students have complained of flu-like symptoms this week.

http://www.wqow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11078842

10 Wisconsin football players show signs of flu

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP) – 26 minutes ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadi ... d383YJMnjA

MADISON, Wis. — At least 10 Wisconsin football players have flu-like symptoms, and coach Bret Bielema kept his players from attending a usual media availability to limit their exposure.

Team officials didn't say whether the players had swine flu or had any confirmed cases, but campus health officials say about 200 students sought medical attention the first week of school. Lab work showed the vast majority have H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

A team spokesman told The Associated Press the Badgers practiced on Tuesday, but several players were missing after they began showing symptoms on Sunday, the day after Wisconsin beat Northern Illinois 28-20.

The spokesman says the majority of players who are sick are underclassmen who live in dorms on campus.

UW tackles another foe in flu outbreak
By TOM MULHERN
Lee Newspapers
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 6:06 AM CDT

MADISON -- The University of Wisconsin football team is scrambling to prepare for a home game against Fresno State Saturday after a large number of players came down with flu-like symptoms this week.

Dennis Helwig, director of sports medicine at UW, met with the media Tuesday night and would only confirm a number in the “low double-digits.“

Other reports had the number much higher. Brian Wozniak, a freshman tight end, wrote on Twitter.com just after noon that 45 players were out.

“I don’t want to dwell on that, but it can change,” Helwig said of the total number. “Somebody that was exposed earlier might be back certainly in the next couple days.“

Helwig could not confirm if any of the players is infected with the H1NI virus, or swine flu, which has hit the UW campus in recent days and also affected large numbers of athletes at schools like Tulane, Duke and Mississippi. Tests to confirm the presence of swine flu take two weeks to complete.

“We’ve tested some of our athletes, but. ... we don’t have any confirmation on any tests,” Helwig said.

Helwig said the first reported case of a football player with the symptoms was Sunday, although UW coach Bret Bielema said some players started feeling ill Saturday night. The Badgers opened their season with a 28-20 victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday evening.

“We had a number of guys out today,” Bielema said after a shortened practice Tuesday. “Hopefully, with some of the things they’re doing in the training room, in addition to just getting some good rest, those guys will be able to join us (Wednesday).

“How many that number is, I don’t know. What they have, I don’t know. All I know is we’ve got to learn to deal with it and we did.“

UW officials have been bracing for a potential outbreak and preparing since last spring.

College athletes are considered to be ideal candidates for the swine flu, according to an article in The New York Times. Athletes share dorm rooms, cafeterias and sometimes unsanitary locker rooms. The strain tends to spread most quickly among young adults who have not built an immunity to flu strains.

“We’ve been preparing for this for quite some time,” Helwig said. “The university has put out all sorts of alerts to the students. We’ve had talks with our student-athletes about this. We felt it was coming, because of everybody coming back to school. That’s when we usually see an outbreak of symptoms like this.“

Helwig believes the preparation allowed the university to act quickly. But without a vaccine, there was not much that could be done to prevent it.

“We were on this,” he said. “We were talking to our players well before we had any first signs or symptoms. We’ve been on it.

“We all had this timeline, we’re not going to get the vaccine until October. So, there really isn’t anything we can do to effectively prevent this until we get the vaccine. Everybody, all across the country, is under this same thing where we have this void in here where we have to let things run their course and deal with it as it comes in.“

Prior to the football outbreak, Helwig said there were symptoms with the swimming team and the coach decided to suspend practices. “They’re not in season,” Helwig said.

Helwig said the symptoms include some fevers of more than 100 degrees, sore throats and body aches.

“They tell us on campus and everything that’s going around, this is a fairly short duration, three to four days,” Helwig said. “So we’re on top of anybody that has it.“

Bielema said junior left tackle Gabe Carimi was one of the first football players to come down with the symptoms.

“On Sunday, we sent him home,” Bielema said. “He went home and got a good night’s rest and came back and practiced really well today. Our entire offensive line was intact. It was good to see those guys, because you could see, if they get the reps, they’re going to move forward.“

Tuesday is generally the biggest workload of the week. Bielema said he shortened practice to help the players who are returning with their stamina, as well as players who might just be coming down with symptoms.

“We didn’t want to tax them and wear them down, have them in a situation where they weren’t able to go out and perform (Wednesday),” Bielema said.

Bielema did not mention any specific positions that were hit hard. He said the younger players, who tend to live in the dorms, were among the first players to come down with symptoms. Many of them are not expected to play this week. Then some of the older players started coming down with it on Monday.

“Now, it’s kind of a hodgepodge of everything,” Bielema said.

Even if most of the players are back in time for Saturday’s game, it will still have a big impact on the game plan, which will likely have to be condensed.

“As coaches, we have to be smart about what we’re doing, what we can kind of ask our kids to do with limited practice time,” Bielema said.

“We’ve got to prepare for it,” he added. “It’s really on how we handle the situation and that’s exactly what we’ve got to do.“

http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2009/0 ... 648806.txt

KAUKAUNA - District officials in Kaukauna say a number of students have the H1N1 flu.

At the beginning of the school year officials sent home a letter to parents telling them of the symptoms of H1N1.

Officials say if your child is sick it is important that they stay home. The H1N1 flu is very similar to the ordinary seasonal flu. H1N1 can sometimes begin with nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea.

The district is asking that students with H1N1 stay out of school for at least 24 hours after fever is gone without the use of medication. That typically will be about 3-5 days.

At this time, health and school officials are not recommending school closures.
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/mobile/l ... 11740_rev1

WHITEWATER, Wis. (AP) ―
Sick University of Wisconsin students, faculty and staff won't need to show doctor's notes for extended medical absences this academic year.


Already, dozens of UW-Madison students have tested positive for the flu.

College campuses are practically breading grounds for viruses, tight quarters in the dorm room, public bathrooms and sharing desks in the classroom can all lead to the fast spread of germs.

So far the numbers of confirmed H1N1 cases in our area are small.

Three at Viterbo University and two at Winona State.

And that's the way officials at both schools would like to keep things.

This semester students didn't just bring their computers and books, they also brought the H1N1 virus. Viterbo University has three confirmed cases. School officials say they've stepped up efforts to stop germs from spreading.

Health Services Coordinator at Viterbo University Sue Danielson says, "Lots of education. Handwashing, we put out sanitizer, tissues. We're trying to education students as well as staff."

At Winona State only one of their confirmed cases is a student who lives on campus and officials say she's been isolated from the other students and is getting all the extra attention she needs.

Winona State Vice President of Student Life and Development Connie Gores says, "My biggest fear is that students would go about their business as normal and think they are not sick or not heed their symptoms and it would spread throughout the campus."

According to the CDC the symptoms of H1N1 are similar to the seasonal flu. One big difference is the age it's affecting, college students.

Winona State Freshman Caleb Rasmusson says, "I'm not too worried about it. From what I've seen its not much worse than any other flu."

Freshman Colin Benidt disagrees. When asked are you afraid of getting sick? he answers, "A little I've known some people that have had it before."

The good news is most students are listening to their school's advice.

Viterbor Junior Amanda Hamamoto says, "They're just kind of encouraging hand washing and if you have symptoms don't come to class."

Danielson adds, "We have a small campus, a lot of students living in close quarters and honestly that's our concern, that it'll spread like wildfire it it really gets going."

Both Winona State and Viterbo University say they are monitoring the number of students who are getting sick.

They are asking students to call their professors if they need to miss class and let the university health departments know if they have flu like symptoms.

UW-L had five students tested for the H1N1 virus, but those tests all came back negative.

At Western Technical College one student is reporting flu-like symptoms but H1N1 has not been confirmed in that case either.

http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11129542

http://badgerherald.com/sports/2009/09/ ... ied_af.php

Swine flu still lingering in practice

Another concern facing the Badgers and coach Bielema is the wave of H1N1 virus making its way through the team. While the coaching staff thought the swine flu had passed through the Badger roster, two new players were diagnosed with the illness after the Fresno State game [which the Badgers won in double overtime].

Reports of students absent with flu-like symptoms are mounting at local school districts and colleges.

Duluth, Proctor and the University of Wisconsin-Superior have joined Two Harbors, the University of Minnesota Duluth and the College of St. Scholastica with students staying home, being sent home or self-
isolating in student housing to get well.

UMD has confirmed one of its 20 or so cases in order to help health-service workers ensure the virus was what they were seeing, said Susan Latto, a spokeswoman for UMD.

With about three-quarters of schools reporting, the Duluth school district counted about 20 students out with flu-like symptoms Monday, said Curt Conrad, the district’s coordinator of health safety and environmental management.

UWS has two students reporting the symptoms, which include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches or fatigue and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea.

St. Scholastica has had 29 students with possible swine flu since school began
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/ ... id/146551/