Hamilton Students Worried about Swine Flu, Uncertain about Health Center's Response

By Bret Turner '13, Kye Lippold '10 and HamPoll Staff

A recent survey conducted by HamPoll showed swine flu significantly impacted campus life among both those who contracted the virus and those who stayed healthy. Overall, 23% of respondents said they had experienced flu-like symptoms that were diagnosed officially or that they suspected to be swine flu; of those who responded as sick, 42% did not visit the Health Center. Among students who stayed healthy, 53% were very or somewhat worried that they would come down with swine flu in the future. 39% of the total sample supported mandatory isolation of students who are sick, though only 25% of sick students supported such a measure.

A majority of respondents felt the administration had done enough in response to the outbreak (50% agreed, whereas 26% felt it hadn’t), and 64% said the administration was quick enough in providing information. The Health Center fared somewhat worse (31% approval, 39% disapproval), with many students offering strong criticism of their experiences there; as one student commented, “many people I know were refused appointments and some were forced to go the the emergency room because the Health Center could not make appropriate accommodations.” Fully 30% of sick students said the Center had done a bad job in the areas of diagnosis, prompt appointments, and adequate care. However, about a quarter of students thought the Health Center had done a good job in these areas; one student argued “they were just overrun by this swine flu thing.”The Health Center was most highly praised for its prevention information, with 56% of well students and 49% of sick students feeling it had done a good job.

The overwhelming majority of students changed their daily behavior in some way as a result of the outbreak. Among those not sick, the most common actions were washing hands more (78% of respondents) and using hand sanitizer (71%), while fully 34% of healthy respondents avoided social events. Common counter-measures undertaken by sick students included sleeping more (92%), missing class (86%), taking over-the-counter medications (80%), and avoiding social events (73%). Only 14% of sick students made use of the bagged meals program offered by Bon Appetit.

There was no substantial difference in the distribution of reported swine flu cases among different dormitories, students who had single rooms, or varsity athletes. Only 34 students (6%) admitted to having pretended or exaggerated illness to excuse themselves from class or a deadline.

The survey garnered 576 responses, for about a 33% percent response rate. The sample over-represented white students and women, while under-representing students from the Mid-Atlantic, varsity athletes, and students on financial aid.