ILI Information for Faculty

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines flu-like illness this way: A fever of 100.4 F (38.0 C) or greater, plus a cough or sore throat and possibly other symptoms like runny nose, body aches, headaches, chills, fatigue, vomiting or diarrhea.

The CDC recommends this approach to treating the flu on university campuses:

• Isolation until 24 hours after the ill person is free of fever (100 degrees F) without using fever-lowering medications. In most cases this will require an isolation period of three to five days. This new recommendation is a reduction from the previous seven-day isolation period. Isolation helps the ill person recover faster and helps to prevent the spread of the flu.
• Treatment of ill individuals with the prescription drug Tamiflu is recommended only if there is an underlying health condition (severe asthma, diabetes, HIV disease, immune deficiency) or the individual is considered high risk (pregnant, over age 65). University Health Service physicians will not prescribe Tamiflu for students who do not meet the CDC guidelines.
  Stay home when ill

That’s the advice for faculty, staff and students who become ill with the flu. If you become ill yourself or if you must stay home to care for ill family members, please notify your department chair or dean about classes you will have to cancel or reschedule. Your chair or dean can discuss with you if a colleague might be able to cover your classes while you are away.

Students also may miss classes, and we are asking you to be prepared to answer student inquiries about making up work or taking incompletes. There may be many more requests than usual for these kinds of accommodations. It is important for you to consider how you could treat all students equitably, even if faced with numerous requests.

Because we expect the severity of the H1N1 strain of flu to be similar to that of seasonal flu, we also expect the university will continue with classes and other scheduled activities. Of course, university experts in influenza will continue to collaborate with local, state and federal health officials and be prepared to follow any new recommendations.

Teaching in time of illness

You can expect that students who are healthy enough to communicate but confined with the flu may want to contact you online so they do not fall behind in their work. You may want to consider moving more of your teaching to Blackboard to help them.

It also is important for you to know that the Health Services will not be issuing health excuses for students who become ill with the flu. Most students who are sick with the flu will not need to be seen by a physician and Health Services does not have the staff resources to handle these requests. Therefore, please do not ask for this proof of illness when students report being sick with the flu.