Dear Valpo students,

Two Valparaiso University students who tested positive for Type A influenza prior to Fall Break were confirmed by the Indiana State Department of Health to have contracted the H1N1 flu. Both of these students have recovered and returned to class. To aid Valpo’s continuing efforts to prevent the spread of the flu, an online form for flu self-assessment, reporting and meal delivery is now available for students. This form will help students determine whether or not they have the flu, provide health recommendations, report flu cases to the University’s health staff, and allow students with flu symptoms who are living on campus to request meal delivery to their rooms while recovering.

This new online form is available at: https://www.intra.valpo.edu/flu.

All undergraduate, graduate and law students – those living on campus as well as commuter students – who think they may have the flu are strongly encouraged to complete the self-assessment and reporting form. This information will aid the University’s response to the flu season.

Students living on campus who the assessment indicates are likely to have the flu, and who are unable to return to their family home, should isolate themselves in their room and request delivery of a box meal from Dining Services. Box meals will be delivered to students recovering from the flu for seven days or until no longer necessary. The box will be delivered between 10 and 11 a.m. and include lunch, dinner and breakfast.

Students who have questions about the online form or who have flu symptoms and cannot complete it should call Valpo’s Health Center at 219-464-5060. Per recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Valpo’s Health Center is treating all students with flu-like symptoms as if they have the flu. Students should return home or isolate themselves in their room until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.

To date, approximately 40 students have reported flu-like symptoms. Thus far, most students have reported relatively mild flu symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue, with some reports of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea).

More information about how to prevent the flu and flu vaccination clinics is available online at http://www.valpo.edu/healthcenter/flu or by calling the Valpo Health Center, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 219-464-5060.

Sincerely,

Toni Baldwin-Dufour Director, Valparaiso University Health Center