When it comes to swine flu, a little paranoia is justified

Many of us, outside of the cautious and the hypochondriacs, may not have read the press release from UConn about the H1N1 virus. It gives some good advice, but the end is particularly interesting.

It says, "if you have these symptoms, please call Student Health Services (486-3427) or your health care provider and keep your distance from others to protect them from being infected."

So that leads me to ask the question: what happens when someone around you has flu-like symptoms and doesn't report it? What if they don't call that number?

Here is where it can get murky. Despite the best efforts of university medical centers, the virus can - and has - spread like wildfire through several campuses. At the University of Missouri at Columbia, 50 students that are suspected of carrying the flu have been isolated from the general population in sick bays miles away from the residence halls.

An off-campus recovery center is a good idea for keeping it from spreading, but it's unlikely that UConn has this in their plans. There is the real possibility that a sick student given the advice to stay in their dorm will typically have at least one roommate. There are many students that live several states away and can't easily get home if they become sick.

The best thing to do is to attempt to catch the carriers of H1N1 early and send them home, or at least provide them with a place isolated from the rest of the student body to recover at. That means the responsibility falls to the students to report any suspicious symptoms of those around them. If that means ratting on your friend or roommate if they aren't willing to report themselves, then it's worth doing.

Now I'm not advocating a McCarthy-style witch hunt by accusing everyone that sneezes in lecture hall of carrying the swine flu, but it's important to be on the lookout.

There are many people who have gotten H1N1 and recovered without any complications, but there are also those for which the disease has been tragically fatal. As of Sept. 3, 593 American citizens have died from this influenza. This is one of the first pandemics to be closely followed in real time.

It's also likely that this could turn out to be like West Nile Virus, with some hospitalizations and a few deaths but nothing as massive as was predicted. Right now, it's safe to assume that this is a threat.

The epidemic of 1919 killed 50 million people. If a deadlier strain of H1N1 pops up, and it will eventually, it won't matter how many boxes of Tamiflu the government has stockpiled - things could get really bad. It's better to be prepared, even paranoid, than to be part of an epidemic.

While some of the H1N1 symptoms are vague, such as sneezing, coughing, and a headache, others are very clear. Anyone around the dorm with a runny nose, watery eyes, complaining of chest pain, disorientation, dizziness or vomiting should be suspect. They should at least get themselves checked out or be mentioned to UConn's health office.

Also, if you have any of these symptoms stay away from class. Period. This may seem like the most obvious thing in the world, but there are still people that will write off any symptoms as something else and show up. Missing one class isn't the end of the world.

So next time someone shows up to class looking like they went through hell and back, just remember, it's worth reporting. Even if they probably are just nursing a hangover.