Just as the rest of the nation had to contend with a rampant new strain of influenza this year, the University is just now reaching the endgame of the battle. When the H1N1 virus made its first appearance on campus, it crept slowly into the summer session student population. The first University case of H1N1 was confirmed by the Student Health Center on July 14. The student cloistered himself away from campus to wait out the virus.By the end of August, the virus was on its war path. Twenty students involved with sorority rush week experienced flu-like symptoms after visiting the Health Center On Aug. 16, The Daily Reveille reported.”If it wasn’t rush week, we probably wouldn’t be going through all the precautions we are because there’s so many girls in close contact,” said Christine Sullivan, Health Center nurse manager.Those students were diagnosed with Type A Influenza — meaning they were more than likely the victims of H1N1 said Herb Vincent, University spokesman, in an e-mail.”Routine tests for H1N1 virus are no longer being conducted by state and federal agencies,” Vincent said. “However, it is presumed that any Influenza A circulating at this time of the year is the H1N1 virus.”With students back on campus, the University recognized the potential for the virus to spread rapidly through the population.Though Health Center employes tested many students during this time, there was little they could do for them.  Students were advised to keep their hands clean, to cough and sneeze into their sleeves and to avoid the sick. Sick students were told to keep healthy with fluids and rest and to remain at home for a full week or 24 hours following a symptom free day.The Health Center reported more than 200 cases of Type A Influenza by Aug. 31. The number of confirmed cases rose to 217 by Sept. 2, but Health Center officials said the true number was probably significantly higher.By late September, the Health Center stopped testing students for the virus, like the rest of the country following the guidelines of the Center for Disease Control.Though the Health Center was still reporting high numbers of students with flu-like symptoms, the nasal swab test was generally discontinued because it did not produce any definite results.Julie Hupperich, Health Center associate director, said the $40 test results did not change the treatment prescribed to patients. Any students with flu symptoms are treated the same way.Hupperich said testing created a bottleneck which decreased the number of students the nurses could see each day. The situation on campus remained constant throughout October, Hupperich said. Many students were still reporting flu symptoms, but the numbers began to taper.On Nov. 19, the Health Center received a long-awaited shipment of 300 vials of the H1N1 vaccine.  Each vial contained 100 doses, and the shipment filled the Health Center’s request to the federal government.Distribution began the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. The Health Center offered the vaccines to any student who wanted one free of charge.In the first day, more than 200 students were vaccinated. The vaccinations continued throughout the rest of the week.—-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]