Students returning from summer vacation bring with them a host of new experiences and ideas to share with the campus community.But this year, they brought the H1N1 virus, more commonly referred to as swine flu.Students have been arriving at the Student Health Center with typical flu-like symptoms since July, though flu season doesn’t start for several months.The Health Center has reported more than 50 student cases of Type A influenza in the last two weeks alone. The Department of Health and Hospitals estimates between 20,000 and 30,000 people in Louisiana have been infected with the H1N1 virus, and the first Louisiana death caused by the virus was confirmed in New Orleans on Aug. 13.The H1N1 virus has killed about 1,000 people worldwide, compared to 3,500 people killed every year by the seasonal flu in the United States alone.Because the H1N1 outbreak has spread to pandemic levels across the world, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention stopped tracking the national number of individual cases in May. All Type A influenza cases are being treated as part of the H1N1 outbreak.”Because it’s so widespread, if it’s Type A it’s likely to be H1N1, because there is so much of the virus going around right now,” said Lauren Mendes, public information officer for the Department of Health and Hospitals.The H1N1 virus is a milder strain of the flu, but spreads rapidly because it is a new form of the virus to which people are not immune, according to Mendes. Though most influenza-related deaths occur in people over the age of 65, the H1N1 virus has been virtually nonexistent in the elderly.H1N1 actually spreads most easily among people between the ages of five and 25, according to Dr. Frank Welch, medical director for pandemic preparedness in Louisiana. The reason for this is unknown.Welch said the people who are most at risk will fall into this age group, have chronic diseases or are pregnant. Christine Sullivan, nurse manager for the Health Center, credited Greek rush and the return of students to common living environments as the cause of rapid person-to-person spreading on campus.”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,” Sullivan said.Sullivan said the symptoms of Type A influenza are very similar to those of the seasonal flu and the Health Center has treated students with Tamiflu and Motrin accordingly.Casey Landers, international marketing senior, said her symptoms started last Wednesday after visiting a friend with a sister who is rushing.Landers said she noticed she was sick when she was cold outside in August heat. She later developed a sore throat, nasal drip and body aches.Olivia Dejean, psychology freshman, developed flu-like symptoms while meeting and greeting potential sorority sisters last week. When she visited the Health Center, a nasal swab determined she was infected with Type A influenza. She was given Tamiflu and told to isolate herself until her condition improved.Dejean said she returned to Opelousas to wait out the flu. She said she was excused from rush and will have the opportunity to join a sorority when she returns.Though there is currently no vaccine for H1N1, Welch said one should be available by November.Welch said the vaccine will first be available to the at-risk groups and age groups, which would include school age children up to the age of 24 and a significant number of university students.Welch predicts within a year or two people will have become more resistant to this novel strain and swine flu will be incorporated into the seasonal flu category.—-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]