By Karolina Ulasevich, For The Miami Student
As new cases of norovirus - a highly contagious stomach bug - crop up around campus, university officials are taking additional measures to combat the spread of the virus.
A few weeks ago, an outbreak of the norovirus reached Miami University. The Miami Student reported on Feb. 19 that over 200 cases of the highly contagious virus made its way on campus, yet there are many unreported cases.
In the last month, as the virus continues to spread, the university has taken several precautionary measures to educate the students, professors and campus workers on norovirus.
Currently, there are numerous signs posted on campus with instructions on how to wash your hands properly and how to spot symptoms. Additionally, members of 20 different departments have been gathering daily via conference call to address the issue and propose solutions, according to Cynthia Traficant, manager at Miami's Health Clinic.
Traficant said those involved in the call include Dean of Students Mike Curme, Dining Services, the Office of Residence Life, University News and Communications and human resources to act from the employee perspective.
Traficant also mentioned the direction the norovirus has taken on campus.
"It's just out in the community now," Traficant said. "There's a much lower presence of the virus on campus, so it is present in more students that live off campus. I check with the local emergency every day."
Traficant explained how the Health Clinic is handling the situation.
"We ask everyone who comes through to put a mask on, whether they are affected or not," Traficant said. "Only two staff members became ill, but we do have four to five students coming in a day with signs and symptoms."
Junior Colleen Gilliard, who works with the ambulance response team in Oxford, said she has helped take in a few of the suspected norovirus cases.
"Most patient are [constantly] vomiting," Gilliard said. "The virus only lasts about 24 hours, but during that time, the symptoms are pretty severe. It makes me want to wear a mask while picking up these students since the virus can be transmitted through close contact."
The symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, fever and body aches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is why the university is advising students to thoroughly and frequently wash their hands and try to limit close contact with others to minimize the spread of the virus.
Gilliard also touched on a problem impacting many of those infected.
"The main issue is that patients can't rehydrate easily due to the constant vomiting, and might need to be admitted to the hospital for IV fluids," said Gilliard.
First-year Laura Caudill gave insight into what it is like living in an affected dorm.
"I think the university's response has been really good, actually," said Caudill. "I know my dorm smells like bleach, they take good care of us."
The norovirus spread quickly in Caudill's dorm.
Though my roommate was sick, I never got," said Caudill. "My entire floor was sick yet a few of us managed not to get it. I think that was in part due to how well everybody's taken care of the cleaning."
According to Traficant and the Health Clinic, the community is moving from the norovirus to influenza, which is an upper respiratory infection. Influenza has been predominant since last week.