With two cases of novel H1N1, also called swine flu, reported on campus over the summer, University officials have developed a response plan in anticipation of an outbreak on campus.

“H1N1 is on campus,” said Don Steeples, senior vice provost for scholarly support. “We are expecting it will spread over the course of the semester.”

One case of swine flu was reported in June, the other in the beginning of August. Steeples said that both students recovered.

Lisa Horn, communications coordinator with the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, verified that the virus is present in the Lawrence community, but said no one has an accurate account of actual H1N1 cases.

“There’s a lot more H1N1 than we know,” she said.

She said tracking the number of cases was difficult because state and local health departments don’t require people to be tested for the virus, unless a person has been hospitalized or dies from the illness.

Horn said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment estimated that at least 10,000 Kansans have been infected by H1N1.

In July, the KDHE expected up to 1.12 million — 40 percent of the state’s population — could come down with H1N1 in the next two years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated up to 40 percent of the total U.S. population could contract the virus in the same time period.

Joe Quimby, senior press officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said people in university settings should take extra precautions because of the vulnerability of the campus age range.

“It’s safe to assume that university populations are at a higher risk than normal populations of work environments,” he said.

According to statistics from the CDC, nearly 60 percent of the 37,030 confirmed and probable cases of H1N1 from April 15 to July 24 were people between the ages of 5 and 24.

According to a different CDC survey of 268 hospitalized H1N1 patients, 16 percent of fatalities came from this age group.

Patty Quinlan, nursing supervisor with Student Health Services, said the high numbers of youths contracting H1N1 was different from seasonal flu, which targets individuals younger than two years old and older than 65 years old.

“With seasonal flu we know it’s coming, we know who’s susceptible,” Quinlan said. “We don’t know these things with a new virus.”

The CDC has also found that pregnant women and obese people are more susceptible to H1N1.

New students already have many stressors that weaken the immune system such as a new diet, people, social scene and living conditions combined with less sleep, more stress and increased alcohol and tobacco use, Quinlan said. H1N1 adds to that vulnerabilty, she said.

Alyssa Thiel, Lawrence junior, said that she tends to get sick when she returns to campus. She said she was more concerned than normal this year about the swine flu because two students in her residence hall this summer contracted H1N1 when she studied abroad in London.

“It seems like it’s going to be pretty widespread,” she said.

Thiel said she was glad the University was taking steps to protect students, but wasn’t sure how effective the precautions would be.

University officials have issued a few statements regarding response procedure for the coming school year, including an e-mail to students living in residence halls.

The e-mail states students diagnosed with H1N1 should isolate themselves until they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours.

“The best place for a sick person is in their own bed, with their own clothes and familiar surroundings,” Steeples said.

The e-mail recommends roommates of H1N1 infected students move to another living space while the ill roommate is recovering. Steeples said hall staff would arrange another room should the healthy roommate choose to move.

— Edited by Megan Morriss