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H1N1 Flu Information

Chancellor's Letter on H1N1 Information [PDF]

H1N1 Updates

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to emphasize everyday preventive actions to help lessen the spread of the H1N1 flu outbreak, such as:

  1. Wash your hands with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
  2. Avoid close contact with anyone who appears sick.
  3. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Wash or sanitize your hands after you sneeze.
  4. If you feel sick, stay home from work or school, and limit contact with others.
  5. Clean your workplace environment regularly with sanitizer or rubbing alcohol, particularly equipment and surfaces shared by others.
  6. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, bodyaches, headaches, chills, and tiredness. With this flu, some people have also had diarrhea and vomiting. Individuals with influenza-like symptoms should avoid exposing others, and they should stay home at least one day after their symptoms end. Individuals who manifest symptoms following travel, or after coming into contact with an individual known or suspected to have the H1N1 flu, should seek immediate medical guidance.

Stay Informed & Check Updates Regularly by clicking on the links below:

Center on Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Flu.gov (Comprehensive government-wide info on pandemic influenza & avian influenza)

World Health Organization

State of Hawaii Department of Health

University of Hawaii

Honolulu Community College

Other Resources

H1N1 and Seasonal Flu Precautions and Information

Transmission can occur even before you know you are sick… Prevention is the key!

Practice good health habits by getting enough sleep, staying active, managing your stress and eating healthy food. Avoid being near or around people who are sick. And… Clean Hands Save Lives! Keeping your hands clean is one of the most important steps to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.

The influenza virus is spread by tiny droplets that are expelled when an infected person coughs or sneezes. An infection can occur from breathing in these droplets before they fall or by touching a surface that these droplets land and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes. Viruses may live about 8 hours on hard surfaces. Regular and frequent cleaning of high-touch areas and handwashing are essential in minimizing transmission.

Most healthy adults can actually infect others 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 5 days after becoming sick. That means you not only can pass it on while you are sick but also you might be able to pass on the flu to someone else before you know your are sick!

Enroll in the UH Alert system. Read email announcements as this may become the primary mode to communicate important information and updates to the entire campus about this and any other emergencies affecting the campus.

Classroom and Employee Concerns

  • Begin thinking about… Academic flexibility by encouraging faculty working groups to develop strategies to address educational continuity in the event of suspension of classes and consistency in protocol for managing individual class cancellation.
  • Consider accommodations/modifications for high risk and ill students and employees.
  • Surveillance - UH system is looking into ways of how each campus can track and see how our campus is directly being affected by the flu.
  • Classroom and Office Practices:
    • Encourage sitting with a space between one another in classroom/auditorium settings, when possible.
    • Encourage tissues and hand sanitizer use.
    • Assignment considerations for those at higher risk and those who are ill.
    • Encourage students and co-workers to stay home when ill.
  • Continuity Planning At Work:
    • Start now and plan on how you and your department or area might problem solve how to manage with less workers.
    • Establish who are our essential employees and tasks that must be maintained to be operational.
    • Consider cross-training staff on essential components to avoid detrimental effect of absenteeism on operations.

Campus Planning of Outside of Class Activities, Excursions and Events, etc. in Lessening the Potential of Exposure to the Flu

  • Proceed or not proceed with an event? Consult with your Div Chair, Program Dean, or Administrator and others to determine this.
  • How much risk can be mitigated by adjusting the event parameters?
    • Is the event essential in the current climate?
  • Be thoughtful when planning activities and events
    • Bathroom proximity (Handwashing facilities), hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes, and fewer handshakes.
    • Outdoor events versus larger indoor space considerations.
    • Mitigate risks when food/refreshments might be served
  • Limit finger foods or common source foods.
  • Use gloves, plates, napkins and other safe food handling practices.
    • Explicitly discourage persons from attending an event/class/work if they do not feel well.

How to Limit the Spread of Infection

  • Cough/Respiratory Etiquette. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and immediately dispose of it in the trash.
  • Handwashing.
    • Frequent and regular hand washing by rubbing hands together to make a lather and scrubbing all surfaces. Rub for about 20 seconds with soap and running water (or sing "happy birthday" twice to yourself). Rinse hands well under running water.
    • Dry hands with paper towel or air dryer. Use paper towel to turn off faucet and open doors and dispose of properly.
    • If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub. Hand sanitizers are being made available in high traffic areas on the main campus.
    • Check out the video created by the Grey Bruce Health Unit that demonstrates the proper technique for both Handwashing with soap and water and for hand sanitizing using alcohol-based sanitizer products.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth to prevent the spread of germs.
  • Routinely clean bathrooms and other frequently used areas. Provide disinfectant or disposable wipe to wipe down commonly used surfaces.
  • Establish regular schedules for frequent cleaning of these high-touch surfaces using a household disinfectant according to the directions on the product label or at least Alcohol 70% solution:
    • Doorknobs, handrails, elevator buttons
    • Desks, tables, chairs
    • Counters and surfaces in cafeterias, meeting rooms and offices.
    • Remote controls
    • Keyboards shared by students
    • Headphones shared in language labs
    • Telephone receivers and touch-tone pads in common areas.
  • Vaccinations - Check CDC & Department of Health website for recommendations on become vaccinated.

Flu Symptoms

Symptoms for the seasonal flu and novel H1N1 flu are similar.

  • Fever
  • Dry Cough
  • Sore throat
  • Extreme tiredness
  • Headache
  • Muscle aches
  • Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (more common in children than adults)

What to Do If You Become Ill

  • Self Isolate. Stay home. Keep away from others. Discourage visitors and minimize exposing others.
  • Do not go to work or school while ill. Although guidelines are to stay home at least 24 hours after fever has gone down without the need for fever-reducing meds, you should "feel well" before returning to work/school. Just being fever-free does not mean you're ready to return to work/school.
  • Wash hands often especially after using tissues and after coughing or sneezing into hands.
  • Check with health care provider about any special care if pregnant, health condition such as diabetes or respiratory ailment. Check with health care provider about whether anti-viral medications might be appropriate.
  • Currently, CDC's recommendations for community and home settings generally do not recommend the use of facemasks and respirators. However, for certain circumstances (see Table 1), a facemask or respirator may be considered, specifically for persons at increased risk of severe illness from influenza. Facemasks, if needed, are available at a pharmacy, building supply or hardware store. Info on facemasks and respirators can be found at:
  • Seek emergency care if the sick person experiences:
    • Shortness of breath or increasing difficulty breathing or chest pain
    • Persistently high fever (greater than 102 degrees Fahrenheit)
    • Vomiting and unable to keep liquids down
    • Signs of dehydration such as dizziness when standing, absence in urination
    • Has seizures
    • Mental confusion
    • Lethargy
  • Get plenty of rest.
  • Drink plenty of fluids and eat a nourishing diet.
  • Do not share food or utensils, towels, toothbrush.
  • Wash items touched by ill person with soap or water or clean with disinfectant.
  • Check with CDC guidelines for the latest info on how long to stay home. Currently, CDC recommends staying home at least 24 hours after fever is gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.

What to Do in Caring for a Person infected with Influenza at Home

  • The ill person should:
    • Call doctor if flu symptoms occur (fever, cough, runny nose, and/or body aches, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea). Serious illness from the flu is more likely to occur in certain groups of people including people 65 or older, pregnant women, people with certain chronic medical conditions and young children. Consult with doctor whether taking anti-viral medication would be of benefit to you. Persons with chronic health conditions should contact their doctors should they believe they have been in contact with person sick with the flu.
    • Limit and avoid contact with healthy family members.
    • Stay in separate room. Keep doors closed as much as possible. Use separate bathrooms when possible. Bathroom should be cleaned daily with household disinfectants.
    • Minimize leaving room during the time when most likely to spread infection (until free of fever).
    • If need to leave home to go in public, cover nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing and consider wearing a facemask, if available and tolerable. After use, facemasks should be taken off and immediately placed in trash to prevent contamination with other objects. If a reusable fabric facemask is used, it should be laundered with laundry detergent and tumble
    • Keep tissues close to the sick person and have a trash bag within reach for disposing used tissues.
    • Drink plenty of fluids and eat a healthy diet.
    • Get plenty of rest.
    • Take over-the-counter medications for fever, congestion and cough as needed to relieve symptoms through the illness. Do not use aspirin with children or teenagers; it can cause Reye's syndrome, a life-threatening illness.
    • Stay home for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (without use of fever reducing meds) but "feel well" before coming back to work/school.
  • Caretakers and others in the household should:
    • Avoid close contact (less than about 6 feet away) with the sick person.
    • If close contact is necessary, spend the least amount of time possible in close contact and try to wear a facemask (surgical mask or N95 disposable respirator). More info on facemasks and respirators can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/masks.htm. Avoid re-using disposable facemasks and N95 respirators if possible. After taking off a facemask or N95 respirator, wash your hands or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
    • Frequent and regular handwashing or use alcohol-based hand rub. Wash each time you touch sick person or handle laundry or things sick person touched or used.
    • Maintain good ventilation in shared household areas (i.e. keeping windows open in restrooms, kitchen, bathroom, tc.)
    • Consult with your health care provider about taking anti-viral medications to prevent the caregiver from getting the flu. Monitor yourself and others for flu symptoms and contact your health care provider if symptoms occur.
    • Discourage visitors.
    • Encourage ill person to drink plenty of fluids and a nourishing diet and get plenty of rest.
    • Do not use the ill person's plates, silverware, towel or toothbrush.
    • Wash the ill person's sheets and clothing in warm water and laundry detergent and tumble dried on a hot setting.
    • Wash any other items touched by ill person with soap and water or clean with disinfectant.
    • Monitor the ill person for signs of potential need for specialized health care which includes:
      • Shortness of breath or increasing difficulty breathing
      • Persistently high fever great than 102 degrees despite taking fever reducing meds
      • Mental confusion
      • Lethargy
    • Any worsening or uncertain condition warrants phone call to primary care provider.
    • Be careful handling waste from those who are sick.

Severity of the Flu Affecting the Campus and the Community

As an institution, if the flu season becomes more severe, the campus may take additional steps may prevent the spread of the virus:

  • Consider allowing students, faculty and staff at higher risk for complications to stay home. These students, faculty and staff should make this decision in consultation with their health care provider.
  • Find ways to increase social distances (the space between people) in classrooms such as moving desks farther apart, leaving empty seats between students, holding outdoor classes, and using distance learning methods.
  • Extend the time sick students faculty or staff stay home or in their residence. It is recommended that person feel "well" and not have a fever for 24 hours without using fever-reducing meds. The recovery phase may take about a week or in more severe cases of the flu. If taken early, anti-viral meds such as Tami-flu, if prescribed, may shorten the duration and severity of flu symptoms.