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Inside Higher Ed
Preparing for Coronavirus
Students at several U.S. universities are tested for possible cases of
a novel coronavirus. Experts weigh in on how colleges can prepare for
the virus.
By Elizabeth Redden
January 27, 2020
The coronavirus has come to U.S. campuses. Arizona public health
officials announced Sunday that "a member of the Arizona State
community who does not live in university housing" had tested positive
for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The person had recently traveled
to Wuhan, China, where the virus originated.
Baylor University announced that one of its students was being tested
by public health officials. Baylor said the student had recently
traveled to China.
A student at Wesleyan University who developed a cough and fever after
traveling through an airport where a patient identified to have
coronavirus traveled is also being tested, the Hartford Courant
reported.
A Tennessee Tech University student who was tested for the virus tested
negative. A Texas A&M University student who was tested also tested
negative.
Meanwhile, in China, Duke Kunshan University has announced that it will
suspend classes in all programs until Feb. 17. Although Duke Kunshan is
a partnership between Duke University and Wuhan University, the campus
is located in a city almost 500 miles from Wuhan.
As of Sunday evening there had been five confirmed cases of the
coronavirus in the U.S., including the case of the individual connected
to Arizona State. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says
those infected with the virus experience mild to severe respiratory
illness with symptoms of fever, coughing and shortness of breath. CDC
officials believe the symptoms can manifest as few as two or as many as
14 days after exposure.
The CDC said it considers the virus a serious public health threat and
that outbreaks of novel viruses are always a cause for concern.
Nonetheless, the agency considers the immediate risk to the American
public to be low at this time.
The agency recommends against nonessential travel to China's Hubei Province, including the city of Wuhan.
At least 80 people have died from the virus, and Chinese authorities
reportedly announced Sunday that Wuhan, a city of about 11 million
people, may have 1,000 more cases. China has imposed strict travel
restrictions for residents of Wuhan and at least 12 other cities in
Hebei Province. The CDC last week began screening incoming travelers
from Wuhan at five American airports.
With colleges being international hubs, home to internationally mobile
students or faculty, it is possible they may see more cases from
students or scholars who traveled to affected regions in China during
the winter break.
China is the biggest country of origin for international students in
the U.S., and Wuhan is the 18th-largest city of origin, according to
data from 2008-12 compiled by the Brookings Institution. At that point
there were about 8,000 students from Wuhan in the U.S.
Asked if there are special precautions colleges should take to screen
faculty or students who have recently traveled to affected areas in
China, James R. Jacobs, the chair of the American College Health
Association’s Emerging Public Health Threats and Emergency Response
Coalition, said that foremost is to follow the advice of the CDC and
local health departments.
“At a minimum, health-care workers should inquire about travel history
whenever evaluating a patient with fever,” said Jacobs, the executive
director of Vaden Health Services at Stanford University.
“Coincidentally, we are in the middle of influenza season in the U.S.,
so institutions should already be in aggressive flu-prevention mode
(hand washing, cough etiquette and so forth),” he added. “Further,
institutions should continue to encourage seasonal flu vaccine for
those who have not already received it, as anything that can be done to
reduce the number of flu-like illnesses on campus will help to limit
confusion if coronavirus illness begins to spread.”
"Many strains of coronaviruses are ubiquitous and are often responsible
for symptoms that we attribute to the 'common cold,'" Jacobs said.
"Similarly, coronavirus 2019-nCoV seemingly causes no or mild symptoms
in most people infected by it."
Jacobs said guidance for pandemic planning is available on ACHA’s
website. "[T]he World Health Organization has not declared spread of
coronavirus 2019-nCoV to have reached pandemic status, but the work of
pandemic planning done by most campuses during the past 20 years for
other respiratory viruses, such as SARS, H5N1 and H1N1, will be useful
in preparing to respond to the appearance of 2019-nCoV," he said.
Other experts also emphasized the importance of planning. "I would be
thinking about communication plans to keep everyone appraised of the
nature of the respiratory threat and where to get advice, and where to
get health care if their signs and symptoms meet that advice," said
Gregory C. Gray, a professor of infectious disease at Duke University.
"I would be thinking about trying to allay the fears that might cause
the worried well to seek care unnecessarily."
In addition to a good communications plan, Gray emphasized the need for
“a good strategy for how you would handle a high volume of people in
your clinic,” including strategies for triage and for safely
transporting individuals to hospitals as needed.
“I think that your student health service ought to be asking any
student who comes in with a respiratory infection two questions: Have
you been in China recently, and if not, have you had close contact with
anybody who’s been in China recently? It’s low-tech, no-cost, but it’s
terribly telling in selecting individuals who might be possible cases,”
said William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at
Vanderbilt University.
Schaffner also said that educational outreach is critical. “In general,
let the student body know about this and if you’ve been to China or had
close contact with somebody who’s just returned from China that at the
very first sign, don’t tough it out. Students have a tendency [to say],
‘Oh well, I’ll see how I feel in the morning.’ Don’t do that. Come [to
the student health center] immediately and let us know in advance that
you’re coming.”
"I would recommend to people that they stay ahead of the game," said
Ron Waldman, a professor of global health at George Washington
University. "This is a rapidly evolving situation; it could go south,
and colleges should be prepared to implement the next step."
"We have the benefit of not being at the very front end," he added. "In
China, they’ve basically cordoned off huge metropolitan areas."
As a final note, Waldman cautioned against potentially stigmatizing
international students from China. “No stigma and no panic,” he said.
“This is a call for caution, vigilance and surveillance.”
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