The frequency of influenza-like illnesses on campus has dropped since it hit a peak in late September, but Health Services Director Ed Wheeler said this improvement is most likely "the calm before the storm."
Over two-thirds of the 487 ILIs reported to Health Services since Sept. 1 occurred last month. But the increase in overall cases in Rhode Island likely indicates that cases at Brown have not subsided for good, Wheeler said.
According to a report on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, New England has been seeing an increase in ILI patients over the past week.
"It would be pretty naive for us to think that we're not going to get it," Wheeler said of the current wave of ILIs hitting the state. "Cases in Rhode Island are generally starting to have an uptick and I'm sure we'll follow them."
Of the 28 students tested for the H1N1 virus, Wheeler said, 12 tested positive, with the majority of positive results in October.
Only one student has been hospitalized for an ILI this fall, he said. "So far we've been lucky. It has been relatively mild."
Wheeler said Brown's H1N1 task force, which meets every other week and includes representatives from the University and the Rhode Island Department of Health, discussed last week how to prepare for a potential rise in swine flu and other ILIs.
The state most likely will distribute the H1N1 vaccine to Brown in early December. When Health Services receives the vaccine, Wheeler said, "We'll do a blitz to let people know how to get it."
The health department prioritizes the distribution of the H1N1 vaccine based on which groups it considers most at risk. The classification "young adults 19 to 24 years of age" falls fourth on the list, below groups including pregnant women and infants and children, according to a release from the department. Rhode Island public schools will begin administering the vaccine Nov. 2.
Students going home for Thanksgiving break should get the vaccine from their pediatricians if they can, Wheeler said, since doctors working with younger age groups in some states are likely to have the vaccine by then.
For now, students' best bet is "to continue with the hygiene because we think it had some effect in flattening out the curve," he added.
