RICHMOND (AP) -- A few of Virginia's colleges and universities are reporting clusters of influenza-like illnesses as they await the availability of the vaccine for the so-called swine flu later this fall.
None is in Hampton Roads, a health department spokesman told WVEC.com.
Many schools have been working with public health officials on influenza strategies and have set up H1N1 information pages on their Web sites with prevention, treatment and recovery guidelines.
More than 2,000 doctors, clinics, and pharmacies have signed on to Virginia's voluntary swine flu vaccine program.
In Hampton Roads, 563 doctors and vaccine providers will dispense the new vaccine, expected to be available by mid- to late October.
Virginia expects to receive as many as 900,000.
The University of Virginia says 23 students have reported flu-like symptoms since the start of the academic year about 10 days ago and school health officials anticipate a significant outbreak as thousands of students have returned to Charlottesville from around the world.
College health officials have suggested students follow flu-prevention guidelines and plan to hold flu-shot clinics for students and university employees when the vaccine becomes available in several weeks.
"This year the flu season is likely to begin earlier and be of a much stronger intensity than in previous years," Anna Martin, the College of William and Mary's vice president for administration and head of the school's emergency-management team, wrote Tuesday in a campuswide e-mail.
"We are working closely with local and state health departments to monitor flu conditions and to make solid decisions about the next steps to take," Martin wrote. "We need you to do your part as well."
The Williamsburg school will continue taking measures it started last year, such as installing more hand-sanitizer dispensers and putting up more signs in high-traffic locations, including one in the student workout center reminding exercisers to wipe down their machines to prevent the spread of germs, spokesman Brian Whitson said.
University of Richmond officials this week set up a flu-information call center for students, parents, faculty and staff and have scheduled immunization clinics for late October, when they anticipate getting the vaccine. A handful of cases of flu-like illnesses have been reported at the school as well as across town at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Colleges are particularly vulnerable to influenza outbreaks because students live and socialize in close quarters. Many of them also travel frequently, raising the risk that they could be exposed to swine flu and carry it back to campus.
Many people who get the virus become only mildly ill and most recover without treatment. But H1N1 infections are 20 times more common in the 5- to 24-year-old age group than in people over 65, according to researchers. Older people have some resistance, likely because of they've been previously exposed to similar viruses.
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(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.? All Rights Reserved.)
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