S.D. campuses deal with H1N1

Illness is keeping about 7 percent of South Dakota’s K-12 students out of classes, but the state’s universities are also seeing their share of H1N1 flu absences.

The latest numbers from the South Dakota Board of Regents show 113 cases at Black Hills State University in Spearfish and 94 at South Dakota State University in Brookings, said James Shekleton, general counsel for the regents.

The University of South Dakota in Vermillion and Northern State University in Aberdeen each have 11 students out, Dakota State University in Madison has six and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City reports three.

Shekleton said the numbers are changing all the time, and the lack of a controlled environment makes counting college absences an inexact science compared to K-12 schools. Black Hills State had much fewer cases and USD’s case count was higher during a previous check, he said.

Also, students who are sick might not have classes scheduled on a particularly day, he said.

Shekleton said South Dakota’s higher education system engaged in an intensive planning exercise in 2006 and 2007 to get ready for the avian flu, and the schools were easily able to adapt that plan to H1N1.

“Each institution had a pandemic flu response plan in place,” he said. “So when this crept up, people just reached into the file cabinet and everything was ready.”

While 73 percent of South Dakota’s confirmed H1N1 cases involve those younger than 19, the second largest group is 19- to 29-year-olds, who account for 13 percent of the cases, said South Dakota Health Secretary Doneen Hollingsworth.

“It’s definitely hitting the youngest people the most,” Hollingsworth said.

The state reported 235 new cases, 79 hospitalizations and two additional deaths for the week ended Oct. 16. Since Sept. 1, South Dakota has had 865 H1N1 cases, 159 hospitalizations and four deaths.

Some H1N1 vaccine has arrived in the state, but it’s being administered first to the highest risk group, which includes pregnant women, those in contact with infants under 6 months, children from 6 months to 4 years, kids from 5 to 18 with chronic health conditions and health care workers.

College students fall into the second tier.

“Because the supply is limited, we aren’t able to go into that second tier group, which includes school age kids and college kids, until likely about the middle of November,” Hollingsworth said. “If our vaccine supply improves, it will be sooner than that.”

Tags: news, state, h1n1