Stomach flu causes health concern

In response to the large number of students suffering from viral gastroenteritis, otherwise known as the "stomach flu," the University has advised students to take special care to prevent the spread of the virus.

In an email sent to students yesterday, University Chief Medical Officer Daniel Silverman advised students to use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

Jan Neglia, director of clinical services, also stressed the importance of using these products. "These hand sanitizers have been shown to be more effective than using soap in terms of killing bacteria on the hands," she said.

McCosh Health Center has seen approximately 110 cases in four weeks, 58 of them occurring in the last 10 days, said Neglia. Recently, there have been between eight and 12 cases per day on average, she added.

"February is traditionally a month when we see a large number of gastroenteritis cases," Neglia said. "February is a time when everybody is on campus — it's cold outside and people gather indoors in closed spaces in contact with each other."

Prevention

Viral gastroenteritis has many unpleasant symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea, fever, headache and abdominal cramps, according to the National Center for Infectious Diseases.

To prevent the spread of the virus, "the single most important thing we can do [is] frequent hand washing," Neglia said. It is especially important after using the bathroom, she added.

The virus is also spread through surfaces contaminated by vomit and saliva.

She pointed to sharing utensils and cleaning up others' vomit as ways of becoming infected.

"If a student becomes ill and has vomited once or twice, they should not eat or drink anything for an hour or two," Neglia said. Doing so will allow them to "put their stomach at rest."

"A common mistake people make is to counteract feeling dry with drinking a lot of fluids at once. This can trigger further vomiting," Neglia said. "So, after putting the stomach at rest for a period of time, begin slowly by taking sips of a clear liquid every 15 minutes."

Students who cannot keep fluids down should go to McCosh Health Center, she said.

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The first outbreak of gastroenteritis began last month among students in eating clubs and those who participated in Bicker activities, Neglia said. She added that the current outbreak, however, affects "an indiscriminate group from across campus," including underclassmen and graduate students.

The University is currently considering a small pilot program that will install hand sanitizers in areas like computer clusters, libraries, and gyms to reduce the risks of contamination associated with public use, Neglia said.