Students at Christian universities across the nation are learning more than they’d like about seasonal flu and the H1N1 virus.

Record numbers of cases at some campuses are prompting officials at universities associated with Churches of Christ to take unprecedented steps — including canceling daily chapel — to curb the spread of illness.
 
At Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City, an e-mail from dean of students Neil Arter delivered the message that daily chapel would be canceled all week — a first in the schoo'ls 59-year history, Arter believes.


“Hopefully (this will) help us slow down the spread on campus without having to adjust our academic offering,” he said, adding that faculty already have re-evaluated attendance requirements and some make-up policies because so many students have been ill.
 
Barely into its own school year, officials at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala., had to make a similar call, said spokesperson Laura Cauthen. Chapel was called off for several days and other welcome-themed, school-wide activities were nixed, she said.
 
“The swine flu epidemic hit Alabama around the time the fall semester resumed,” Cauthen said. “Precautions were taken very early in the semester.”  
 
Arter said doctors have been making “house calls” to students’ dorm rooms and apartments. “The level of concern for everyone on our campus has risen,” he said, adding that parents are worried about their students, as well.
 
To that end, Faulkner is treating ill students as though they do have the flu, said Brenda Campbell, nurse at the university’s health center.
 
“We start a ‘flu protocol’ with each student that presents with flu-like symptoms,” Campbell said. “The student is given a mask, hand sanitizer, and printed instructions of what to do next.”
 
If the student is considered to be flu positive, the dorm or apartment supervisor is notified and arrangements are made to move roommates to another location, she said.
 
“Although the epidemic has somewhat subsided in our area, Faulkner is still taking daily precautions to minimize transmission,” Cauthen said.
 
At other universities, preventative measures continue. Health workers and nursing students at Abilene Christian University in Texas are taking flu vaccination to student dormitories in hopes that the convenience will persuade more students to get a shot.
 
There’s also a prize at stake: $400 for the dormitory with the highest percentage of residents vaccinated. Before the dorm delivery began, that figure stood at around 10 percent.
 
The entire process of screening the student and administering the shot takes less than a minute, said Michelle Drew, nurse practitioner in the ACU Clinic. The flu shot is $15 for students and can be billed to their student account.
 
”Close living quarters, classrooms and eating spaces make all infectious diseases easy to spread but especially respiratory illness like the flu,” Drew said. “This fact has made those of us charged with meeting the healthcare needs of university students realize that we have to be not only reactive but proactive.”
 
Rochester College in Michigan is employing a similar approach. President Rubel Shelly was given his flu shot during chapel while making an announcement that Rochester would pay for vaccinations for any student, faculty or staff member who would follow his lead.
 
“There’s a heightened sense of urgency to be prepared,” Shelly said, adding that Rochester has partnered with a local hospital in its efforts to keep the campus community healthy.
 
Isolating ill students who cannot return home has become standard practice at many universities. This means student life offices and dormitory staff must pitch in to care for them, said Dennis Cox, senior vice president at Ohio Valley University in Vienna, W.Va., who said they’re “preparing for the worst.”
 
“A crisis management team … has been formed to address potential problems in the dormitories brought on by a flu outbreak and  plan for meeting the needs of students who are ill in their dorm rooms by bringing in meals and medication,” Cox said.
 
“We are doing our best to prevent widespread illness.”
 
York College in Nebraska hasn’t been hit hard by the flu. Yet.
 
Dean of students Shane Mountjoy said that while cases have occurred earlier than usual, they don’t seem more severe than in past years.
 
“Our campus has taken steps similar to plans we made to deal with the aviary flu, which for us turned out to be exaggerated,” Mountjoy said. Students are noticing — and using — more hand sanitizing stations around campus, he said.