MySimmons - Simmons College Community Intranet

Important Update on H1N1 Vaccine

Simmons has just received an initial, limited supply of H1N1 flu vaccine. Following the recommendations of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, this vaccine will be offered first to students considered to be in a high risk priority group. The initial high risk priority groups are:

Group 1: (highest priority)

• students who are pregnant
• students living with or caring for children six months of age or younger
• students living with or spending regular time in the households of pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy

Group 2: (second highest priority)

• students up to age 25 with chronic diseases such as asthma or with compromised immune systems.

If you are in one of these two priority groups please call the dedicated H1N1 vaccine line at 617-521-1022 to arrange an appointment to receive your vaccine. Leave a message including your cell phone number and someone will return your call.

As more vaccine becomes available, we will continue to offer immunizations to additional groups of students and hope to eventually immunize all those students who wish to receive the H1N1 vaccine. If sufficient vaccine becomes available, we will offer vaccine to staff and faculty as well. In the meanwhile, we encourage staff and faculty to contact their primary care provider about receiving vaccine.

Other flu information

If you think you have symptoms of the flu (fever, cough, sore throat, body aches) call your health care provider. If you are a Simmons student call the Health Center at 617-521-1020

For more information, please visit the following web sites:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu, http://www.mass.gov/dph, and www.bphc.org/swineflu.

• Click here to read a FAQ on seasonal flu and H1N1
• Click here to read instructions if you are a student diagnosed with influenza like illness (ILI)

Flu Clinics

 Seasonal Flu Vaccine:

Due to a national shortage of seasonal flu vaccine, the College has been unable to hold an additional seasonal flu clinic.  Should additional seasonal flu vaccine become available in the next weeks, priority for vaccine will be given first to students and then to faculty and staff if enough vaccine is available.

In the meanwhile it is recommended that students, staff and faculty investigate other locations for receiving a seasonal flu shot.  These include your own primary care provider if available, or one of the numerous area stores that are offering vaccine clinics (e.g., Walgreens, CVS, Stop and Shop).  All of these stores have flu clinic information on their web sites.  Additional information about where to receive vaccine, some of it free of charge, can be found on the websites for the Boston Public Health Commission (www.bphc.org) and MASSPRO (www.masspro.org). We recommend that you call any site before going to determine if an appointment is necessary and to ensure that vaccine is available.

H1N1 Vaccine:

H1N1 vaccine is just being released by the state to health care providers.  We expect to get a shippment of vaccine from the state at the end of November and hope to have enough vaccine to offer it to students, staff and faculty.  Should the supply of H1N1 vaccine unexpectedly be limited we will again prioritize students, especially those at higher risk of complications from flu.

We'll post additional information about both vaccines on this site as soon as it is available. 

 

 

October 7, 2009

 Dear Simmons Students:

 

I'm writing to update you on the status of H1N1 (swine) flu on campus, and to share the current status with regard to the availability of vaccination for both seasonal flu and H1N1.

 

Reported Cases of Flu

 

As of today, we have had 28 Simmons students diagnosed with influenza-like illness (ILI).  Since the definitive test for H1N1 is unavailable, a diagnosis of ILI is made by the Health Center based on symptoms. Seasonal flu has not yet arrived in Massachusetts, so it is likely that most people diagnosed with ILI have H1N1.  

Students who were diagnosed with ILI include both graduate and undergraduate students; some are commuters, and some live in the residence halls. Following the protocols of the Boston Public Health Commission, isolation has been recommended for 24 hours after fever is gone without using medications, or four days after the onset of symptoms, whichever is longer. Please note that students in clinical placements in health care facilities may not return to the clinical site until seven days from the onset of symptoms or for 24 hours after fever subsides, whichever is longer. We are encouraging students who are able to go home to do so; students not able to go off campus have been isolated in their rooms. Of the 28 diagnosed, 24 have already been cleared to return to their usual activities. 

 

Immunizations

As many of you may know, there has been an unanticipated national shortage of seasonal flu vaccine. Although Simmons had ordered more seasonal flu vaccine than we used last year, we have received only half of the doses we ordered many months ago. The H1N1 vaccine has just been released by the federal government; the first shipments are earmarked for health care workers and high-risk patients. 

 

While it continues to be the intent of the College to offer both seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccinations to students, faculty and staff, the most recent information regarding the availability of the seasonal flu vaccine suggests that we may not be able to acquire enough vaccine for all who want it. If this happens, the College will offer immunizations to students first, and then to faculty and staff as we have remaining vaccines. 

 

We expect to receive the remainder of our seasonal flu vaccine order later this month, and will continue to monitor availability so that we can order more vaccine if it becomes available. H1N1 vaccine should be available for the general public at the end of October/early November. We will provide you with more information about the availability of both vaccines once we receive those details.   

 

In the meantime, if you do not wish to wait for the arrival of the seasonal flu vaccine, you may want to consider making an appointment with your primary care provider to receive the seasonal flu vaccine, or to take advantage of the many flu clinics offered throughout the area. Many stores such as Walgreens, CVS, and Stop & Shop are offering seasonal flu clinics. The dates and times of those clinics are available on the stores' websites. Additional information on flu clinics can be found on the websites for the Boston Public Health Commission (www.bphc.org) and MASSPRO www.massspro.org). We strongly recommend that you call any site/clinic prior to visiting to make sure they have vaccine on hand, and to see if an appointment is required.

 

What to do if you think you have the flu:

 

If you or someone you know is not feeling well we strongly encourage you (or them) to call the Health Center at 617-521-1020 to report your symptoms.  Symptoms of H1N1 include: 

- fever greater than 100 degrees

- cough, sore throat and general body aches

- GI symptoms (nausea, diarrhea) sometimes also occur with flu, but if these are your only symptoms you are very unlikely to have H1N1

 

In order to decrease the spread of the virus, it is preferable that you call rather than visit the Health Center. When you call the Health Center, it is important to know your temperature, as that is one of the major signs of the illness. If you live on campus, disposable thermometers are available in each residence hall in common locations (if you are uncertain of the location look for signs directing you on your residence staff's door). If you are diagnosed with ILI the Health Center will talk with you about how to manage your illness, and will call each day to check your progress.  For those few students who are not able to travel home during their illness, protocols are also in place to find alternate accommodations for their roommates (if applicable), and to have meals brought to them. All students are asked to write directly to their faculty regarding absences due to illness. (We have written to faculty asking for their flexibility for absences related to illness from the flu.) The Office of the Dean for Student Life can provide additional support for absences as needed.

 

We will continue to provide updates to you on a regular basis by e-mail.  You can also check the Health Center web page for up-to-date information:  http://my.simmons.edu/services/health/. If you have any further questions, you may contact the Health Center at (617) 521-1020. 

 

Best Regards,

 

Sarah Neill

Dean for Student Life                                               

 

To Parents and Families

October 13, 2009

Dear Simmons Parents:

I'm writing to update you about the arrival of H1N1 on campus, and on the status of immunizations for both seasonal flu and H1N1 flu.

H1N1

 As no specific test for H1N1 influenza is available to most health care facilities,  at Simmons as elsewhere, we have been encouraging any student who thinks she has flu -like symptoms to call the Health Center so a determination can be made as to whether she has an influenza- like illness (ILI)  and therefore likely to have  H1N1 flu, or is more likely to have some other illness that needs treatment such as strep throat.  As of this date we have diagnosed 40 students with ILI over the past five weeks.  These have included both commuter and residential students, and graduate and undergraduate students.  Following the recommendations of the Boston Public Health Commission we have recommended isolation for those students either by going (or staying) home, or by asking roommates of students diagnosed with ILI to move.   We have asked that students remain isolated for 4 days after onset of symptoms, or 24 hours after being fever free without the use of medication.  Students with clinical placements, such as nursing students, are required to remain away from their clinical placement for seven days after developing symptoms.  We offer medical advice to the students registered with us unless they are being followed by their primary care physician.  A Health Center staff member checks on the status of each student every day until they are cleared to go back to their usual activities.  Most have already received clearance.   There is no way of knowing when this current round of influenza -like illness will peak, but we are encouraged by the fact that we have not had a huge outbreak as has been the case at colleges in other parts of the country.

Immunizations

With regard to immunizations, we have been prevented from immunizing as many students as we would like against seasonal flu by a nationwide shortage of vaccine.  We did have one seasonal flu vaccine clinic at which about 125 students received vaccine, but we did not receive shipment of the remainder of the vaccine we ordered so we cannot offer additional clinics at the present time.  We hope to receive more seasonal flu vaccine in time for the seasonal flu season which usually starts in November, but have no way of knowing if (or when) it will arrive.  We have begun to recommend therefore, that students plan to get a seasonal flu shot at their primary care provider if they have one in the area, or from one of the numerous stores in the area that are offering vaccine (e.g., Walgreens, CVS, Stop and Shop).

With regard to H1N1 vaccine, it has just begun to be distributed in Massachusetts and we expect to get vaccine at the Health Center beginning in November.  As soon as we have more details about this we will let you know.

We have sent out numerous communications to students to make them aware of all of these issues.  You can read our most recent communication to students under the student tab on this Health Center home page.  At the bottom of the home page there are also links to a Q&A about flu, and instructions we are giving to students diagnosed with ILI, as well as sources for general information about H1N1. 

As always, we appreciate the important role you play in supporting your student. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Yours in Health,
Sarah Neill
Dean for Student Life