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The Purple Line / May. 14, 2009 at 1:22 pm

First swine flu case confirmed at Northwestern

Last updated: 1:51 p.m.
First posted: 1:22 p.m.

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Northwestern has its first confirmed case of swine flu.

An undergraduate student who lives on campus is recovering from the infection at home, according to a university press release. “She is recovering from her infection without complications,” according to the statement, released by Alan Cubbage, vice president of media relations for the university.

“Northwestern does not plan to close,” the statement added. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local public officials, advise against closing a university where swine flu has been detected.

In an interview, Cubbage declined to comment about the residence or its whereabouts, but did note that it was not a large residence. The university is in the process of contacting all of the members of that residence now, he said, and giving them information similar to that on an FAQ page about swine flu posted on Northwestern’s Web site.

“Students, faculty and staff who are feeling ill should stay home and not go to work or classes,” the release said. “If students have flu-like symptoms, they should go to Northwestern Health Services for testing and treatment.”

More to come.

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Comments

  1. I appreciate that it is appropriate to protect the student’s privacy, but couldn’t the school say which dorm she lived in?

    observer

    May 14, 2009 at 3:28 pm

  2. WHERE DOES SHE LIVE IN OMG?!

    It’s VERY annoying to know the case but dunno where/how to protect ourselves from “the virus”

    EVERYONE JUST CAMP AT THE LAKE FILL! NOW!

    fresh air. say no to virus

    May 14, 2009 at 3:51 pm

  3. The article clearly says that “The university is in the process of contacting all of the members of that residence now”

    calm down.

    May 14, 2009 at 4:59 pm

  4. Yes, I read that. I think the university should tell everyone what dorm it was.

    observer

    May 14, 2009 at 5:51 pm

  5. are you people kidding? swine flu is just like normal flu. it’s nothing to shit yourselves over. stop whining. just wash your hands, drink your oj, and be aware of the symptoms. you don’t move out of your dorms when someone has a strain of flu that doesn’t have a nickname, do you?

    Cor

    May 14, 2009 at 6:24 pm

  6. Who said anything about moving out of dorms?! I’m not worried or panicked or shitting myself or anything similar. Just asking a pretty straightforward question.

    observer

    May 14, 2009 at 6:43 pm

  7. Yes Cor, swine flu is just like the flu, except for the fact that it comes from SWINE. As in, SWINE FLU.

    Whatever happened to reading comprehension. I suppose some people think a horse is the same thing as a sea-horse, or a Jewish person is the same as JuJuBe candies.

    Randy

    May 14, 2009 at 7:08 pm

  8. The symptoms are treatable and pose no serious threat to the campus, similar to the USUAL cases of flu; requesting the dorm information seems excessive in the sense that it shows more concern for swine flu. Cor’s point is that YOU WILL BE FINE

    Rob Chung

    May 14, 2009 at 9:12 pm

  9. and yes,

    Jews:JuJuBe candies :: flu:swine flu

    Rob Chung

    May 14, 2009 at 9:14 pm

  10. “Yes Cor, swine flu is just like the flu, except for the fact that it comes from SWINE. As in, SWINE FLU. ”

    no, it doesn’t. The swine flu virus is really only about 1/3 related to any sort of virus in pigs. And really, the symptoms and effects are the same.

    stop freaking out, people, it’s not the plague. it really, really doesn’t matter where the poor girl lives, especially if you don’t live there.

    anon

    May 14, 2009 at 10:02 pm

  11. wait, she was poor?

    michael

    May 14, 2009 at 11:01 pm

  12. thankfully, there are plenty of qualified doctors here telling me to calm the fuck down, based on their expert opinions. If only the WHO had such bastions of rationality…

    I, for one, would like a list of higher risk buildings to be extra vigilant by. It isn’t “just the same as the flu”, it is, according to those crazies at the WHO who don’t take the time to post here, twice as infectious as seasonal influenza, and oddly lethal in normally healthy age brackets in the Mexico outbreak. While it hasn’t been so in the US, there also have not been as many cases. People on this campus are mature enough(or should be) to use the information of where this individual was without leaping into hysteria. The case a week ago at Western Illinois U the university released the name of the dorm where that case was found.

    come here for the advice

    May 14, 2009 at 11:04 pm

  13. hahahahahaahahahahahahaaha

    this is hilarious

    May 14, 2009 at 11:04 pm

  14. she lived in A chi O

    anonymous

    May 15, 2009 at 2:10 am

  15. Oh man, why are we worried about the swine flu when “this is hilarious” clearly has Mad Cow Disease! WHY?

    A Cow

    May 15, 2009 at 8:05 am

  16. Good God I love my name. It’s just so long and huge and wonderful and the mouth feel of the words is just amazing.

    Arthur Charles Herbert Runcie MacAdam Jarrett

    May 15, 2009 at 12:18 pm

  17. Wait gentlemen, I think Michael raises a very important point. Does the disease affect the poor at a greater rate than us well-off folks? If so, I agree with Cor after all. Swine flu just really isn’t that big a deal.

    Randy

    May 15, 2009 at 6:15 pm

  18. The person who has it is me.

    Matt A.

    May 16, 2009 at 1:31 am

  19. heard it was a chi o, as well.

    John

    May 16, 2009 at 4:58 am

  20. i has it too. and i is coughing on your textbooks

    SPELL CHECK

    May 16, 2009 at 6:59 pm

  21. Why won’t they tell us which dorm it is in? There is no good reason to withhold the information. More information is always better than less. A petition should be started to ask them to explain their policy and to release thsi information to the entire university community.

    Joanne

    May 18, 2009 at 12:47 am

  22. the people who are demanding to know where she lives are being ridiculous- if she lived where you live you’d know. otherwise you’re just being nosy and prying into someone else’s personal life, and you’ve got no right to do that. say she lives in elder- then are people going to start ostracizing everyone who lives in elder?

    just cause the girl has swine flu doesn’t mean we should all be privy to all sorts of info about her!

    chill out people- plus it seems that NO ONE got it from her since she WENT HOME when she got sick, and no cases have been reported!

    swiney

    May 18, 2009 at 12:19 pm

  23. Alex baby, tell me more about swine flu. Your article gives me fever.

    Alex Campbell is hot

    May 18, 2009 at 10:33 pm

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