Stomach virus outbreak strikes student body

By Allison Sundaram

A stomach virus outbreak on campus may not have an end in sight.

Gastroenteritis, which has affected at least 60 students in the past two weeks, is a viral infection, comparable to a cold in its methods of transmission.

While a cold affects the upper-respiratory tract, the main symptoms of gastroenteritis are nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

There are no preventative or curative medications for gastroenteritis, and it is possible to get the virus more than once.

"There's no way to prevent it, you just have to manage it," said Peggie Robinson, clinic manager at Cowell Health Center. "You're managing it when you get it. There's no medicines for us to give you to make it go away."

Cowell Health Center has treated approximately 60 cases of the virus in the past two weeks, seeing a handful of patients each day.

The actual number of cases could be much higher, as the number of students managing the symptoms on their own in their dorm rooms is unknown.

"You definitely seem to have a little outbreak there," Joy Alexiou of the Santa Clara Department of Public Health said.

An infected person can be contagious for a short time before they show symptoms. The amount of time between when people contract the virus and when they begin to show symptoms varies for each person, Robinson said.

However, precautions can be taken to avoid infection. Robinson stressed hand-washing and not sharing utensils, food or water bottles.

Robinson said these measures can come too late if they aren't observed in a proactive way.

While most students have been fine, Cowell physicians have had to rehydrate some patients with IV fluids. Students unable to manage their symptoms are asked to contact Cowell as early as possible during the day to ensure that they can be treated.

Robinson said that the biggest problem for students with the virus is a lack of understanding on how to avoid dehydration.

"They throw up, and then they drink, which leads to a vicious cycle where you keep throwing up because your stomach is upset and it can't handle that assault," Robinson said.

After vomiting, one should wait one to two hours before attempting to eat or drink. Because the virus prevents the intestines from processing food normally, a limited diet, starting with clear liquids and salty broths, is recommended before building to regular, solid foods.

If symptoms such as vomiting return, a patient should go back to step one.

Cowell has literature on maintaining hydration that has been posted in every residence hall and has been forwarded by e-mail to residents.

According to Robinson, the disease has been on campus since before Easter, when several patients were treated.

The bug, which causes nausea, diarrhea and vomiting for a several day period, is in the family of "cruise ship" viruses. It can be transmitted through food prepared by an infected person, but Cowell reports have not linked this outbreak with contaminated food.

The continued presence of the disease is partially due to the enclosed environment of the residence halls, where students are constantly in contact with each other and using communal bathrooms.

The virus is spread easily from person to person through close contact.

While gastroenteritis is not a disease reportable to the Public Health Department, according to Alexiou, the university has been in contact with them. Santa Clara County has had a series of small outbreaks reported to them over the past couple of weeks.

"For some reason, there seems to be a flurry of these at this point," Alexiou said.

Contact Allison Sundaram at (408) 554-4546 or asundaram@scu.edu.