A girl is sitting across the classroom with a tissue box on her desk, her hair tied in a bun, her baggy clothes serving as a comforter, and a sniffling sound coming from her nose. She is pale, though blotches of red stain her cheeks. She rests her head on her crossed arms on top of the desk. Her diagnosis: the swine.
The swine flu hype that hit America in April 2009 has not since faded. People across the nation are buzzing with the fear of contracting this “terminal disease.” On campus, the same effects are apparent. When a coughing student is spotted across campus, all is done to avoid crossing paths. Each student can be caught with a bottle of antibacterial gel in their bag and freshly washed hands. This hype, although necessary to prevent further infection, might be an exaggeration.
The first wave of H1N1 Virus, more commonly known as the swine flu, instilled a sense of fear as United States citizens turned on their televisions and were bombarded with horror stories of illness and deth at the hands of this virus.
The myths of the swine flu, however, deserve to be debunked. The H1N1 virus is not as deadly as most assume. In reality, it is just like the normal seasonal flu but with an exciting medical name. Students around campus fear this virus because they are not aware of its common nature. They presume it targets a few individuals, and thereby kills those few. This presumption, however, is wrong.
Dr. Thomas Nary, the Director of Health Services, provides useful information needed to debunk some of the swine flu myths.
He recognizes that this year on campus there were more reported cases of the flu, but says this is probably due to By Chantal Cabrera
Heights Staff
A girl is sitting across the classroom with a tissue box on her desk, her hair tied in a bun, her baggy clothes serving as a comforter, and a sniffling sound coming from her nose. She is pale, though blotches of red stain her cheeks. She rests her head on her crossed arms on top of the desk. Her diagnosis: the swine.
The swine flu hype that hit America in April 2009 has not since faded. People across the nation are buzzing with the fear of contracting this “terminal disease.” On campus, the same effects are apparent. When a coughing student is spotted across campus, all is done to avoid crossing paths. Each student can be caught with a bottle of antibacterial gel in their bag and freshly washed hands. This hype, although necessary to prevent further infection, might be an exaggeration.
The first wave of H1N1 Virus, more commonly known as the swine flu, instilled a sense of fear as United States citizens turned on their televisions and were bombarded with horror stories of illness and deth at the hands of this virus.
The myths of the swine flu, however, deserve to be debunked. The H1N1 virus is not as deadly as most assume. In reality, it is just like the normal seasonal flu but with an exciting medical name. Students around campus fear this virus because they are not aware of its common nature. They presume it targets a few individuals, and thereby kills those few. This presumption, however, is wrong.
Dr. Thomas Nary, the Director of Health Services, provides useful information needed to debunk some of the swine flu myths.
He recognizes that this year on campus there were more reported cases of the flu, but says this is probably due to the appearance of the H1N1 Virus. “Up to this point, there have been more cases on campus because the flu season this year started so early due to the H1N1 Virus,” Nary says. “But we won’t know the official numbers until next spring. This is mirrored in other colleges across the U.S. as well.”
Nary reports that around 470 BC students have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, but no students have yet to be diagnosed with the seasonal flu. On a more positive note, a BC student has yet to be hospitalized, in contrast with other universities that have had to take more serious measures in dealing with the flu.
Predictions of this year’s flu season in the United States can be best reached through observation of the southern hemisphere. According to Nary, the southern hemisphere has already had their flu season and reports show that the H1N1 virus crowded out the seasonal flu.
“Most cases in the southern hemisphere were the H1N1 virus; there were minimal cases of the seasonal flu. The cases of H1N1, however, were mild in the southern hemisphere,” which are good predictions for the remainder of our seasonal flu year, Nary says.
Common symptoms of the H1N1 virus and the seasonal flu include fever, cough, muscle aches, sore throats, congestion, and headaches. According to Nary these symptoms come on relatively suddenly. The nurses in the infirmary are taking good care of students that come in with these symptoms. Theresa Barba, a Staff Nurse in the BC Health Center, commented on the treatment she has been giving to students with the flu.
“We ask them to keep hydrated and to self-isolate themselves until they are fever-free. We ask them to wear masks in public places such as the bathroom. They should take Advil or Tylenol until their fever has gone down,” Barba says.
“We encourage each student that is diagnosed to have a ‘flu buddy,’ who will pick up his or her food as well,” she said.
What exactly is this flu-like virus? Michael Piatelli, professor in the biology department, provides insight into the biological aspects of the virus. The virus has “surface proteins,” which the virus uses to attack the cells in the human body, he said.
“The virus attaches itself to a cell in the human body and injects its nucleic acid into the cell and that nucleic acid will duplicate inside the cell so that it bursts the cell open and kills it, and then the virus will be able to spread to other cells and infect them,” Piatelli says.
This vicious cell-killing cycle is preventable, however, with the use of vaccines. “[Chemists] take the virus and attenuate it, so it will not cause infections; then they take a piece of the virus and inject it into the human, which will elicit an immune response against it,” Piatelli says. “Now the human immune system recognizes this as foreign, and when the actual virus is presented, it will be able to recognize it.”
Since the vaccine for the H1N1 virus is not yet accessible to BC students, a growing number of cases are still expected. The seasonal flu shot, however, seems to be working – no cases have yet to be reported.
“We have given more flu shots this year than we have before. This is probably due to the fear factor,” Nary says.
Due to the lack of a flu shot for the H1N1 virus, absences in the classrooms have increased. “More students this semester have been out sick than normal. I would say there is probably a 10 percent increase in the number of absentees from last year,” Piatelli says.
“Generally, however, they [students] are only out for a week and then after that they are no longer contagious,” she said.
Other professors have noticed it as well. “There have been more illness-related absences in my classes this fall,” says Daniel McKaughan, professor in the philosophy department. “I think that the BC community has responded well on the whole. Rather than trying to come to class sick, students have been more conscientious about not spreading the swine/seasonal flu.”
“The infirmary is advising students to quarantine themselves until they are no longer contagious,” McKaughan says. “The administration has done a good job of keeping me informed about excused absences, etc. and has also encouraged faculty to accommodate students as best we can.”
Why do people fear this virus so much if in reality it is not unlike the seasonal flu? Piatelli attributes the fear-factor to the virus’ origin in another species. “Anytime you have a virus that originates in one species and then leaps to another, you begin to feel a certain danger.”
When the virus infects other organisms, it means it has changed. These changes may mean the virus is more potent and dangerous and therefore may be better at infecting immune systems, Piatelli says. A similar pattern can be noted in previous epidemics such as malaria, which originated in the chimpanzee and became more dangerous once it attacked humans.
The leap the H1N1 virus made from pigs to humans, however, is not dangerous. The virus is easily treated, and the amount of fatalities does not compare to previous epidemics.
“I don’t see an epidemic in this case at all. There’s not a big difference between the swine flu and the seasonal flu,” Piatelli says. “Viruses such as SARS and West Nile are far more dangerous.”
Finally, a lesson to all: next time a girl is blowing her nose in class, don’t freak out. Chances are she just has a common cold. And if the case may be that she has the swine, then just breathe. It’s not as scary as everyone claims. n
Mythbusters: Swine Flu
Published: Monday, November 23, 2009
Updated: Monday, November 23, 2009
 "Photo: Laura Campedelli / Heights Photo Illustration")
Laura Campedelli / Heights Photo Illustration
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