It’s Gastronomical!

Graphic by John Sherman, Managing Editor

It’s that time of year again: you’re sitting in class, taking a test, and someone behind you begins to cough. The person next to you sneezes. You begin to pray that you will not contract any illness, since it’s only Monday and your teachers have strict attendance policies.

Recently, Student Health Services sent an e-mail to the college community, warning of a gastrointestinal illness that was going around the campus. The message explained that some students had contracted a stomach virus, and that if a student felt very ill and could not keep down fluids for more than an hour, they should call the Health Center. Students with the virus were suffering from nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

In the e-mail, the health center also reminded students about preventative measures to keep from getting sick, including frequently washing hands, especially after going to the bathroom and before eating.

Students on the men’s and women’s soccer teams and the field hockey team became sick after traveling to Colby for their away games.  Those that had contracted the virus were symptomatic for about twenty-four hours; some students went to the ER and were released, having been treated for dehydration.

“Sunday afternoon brought the first sign of it,” said field hockey coach Debbie Lavigne. “After that, it spread to seven other players. Women’s soccer had about the same number of players get infected, men’s soccer was a little slower. The Connecticut Department of Public Health is looking into it. Because men’s soccer, women’s soccer, and field hockey all got it, so they’re looking into common things we all eat.”

Fortunately, Cate Moffett, Director of Student Health Services, said that the virus is on a decline.  Most of the students that had come down with the gastrointestinal illness have already fully recovered. Moffett said that the virus had mostly been concentrated within the soccer and field hockey teams, and luckily hadn’t been spread elsewhere.

“About five years ago, we had another bad stomach virus that spread quickly throughout campus,” Moffett said. “This time, we were lucky, and the virus didn’t spread as quickly. We were also able to catch it early, which helped us with containing it.”

Moffett sent the e-mail this time to attempt to contain the virus, an attempt that at the moment, seems to have been very successful.  E-mails were also helpful in preventing the spread of H1N1, or swine flu, last year.

The local health department, Ledge Light Health District, helped to investigate the origin of the gastrointestinal virus, although it was quickly realized that the virus was first contracted at some point during the trip to Colby. The health center also follows the trends of illnesses on campus to help students prevent the spread of sicknesses.

This year, SHS has already encountered many cases of strep throat and mono.  These cases mostly involve freshmen, who often cannot escape illness because they have a sick roommate. Lack of sleep and excessive drinking lowers the immune system’s ability to fight off illnesses.

Moffett suggests that students should also get their flu vaccination early, so that the campus can be more protected against seasonal flu and H1N1 thanks to “herd immunity.” If most of the students got their immunizations, there would be a much lower chance that anyone on campus would contract the flu.  The flu shot this year includes protection against H1N1.

Moffett says that the best protection against illness is to take care of ourselves. “I would say that the highest at risk we have here are students who don’t get enough sleep. Students need to sleep well, eat well and be healthy for when [cold season] gets worse.”