Flu cases up at Mo. colleges

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri colleges and universities reported about 370 new flu cases two weeks ago.

The Columbia Missourian reports the total numbers of cases went up from the previous week as more schools report to the American College Health Association's Pandemic Influenza Surveillance.

The survey includes five to 10 schools from Missouri, including the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The survey does not differentiate among flu strains, but officials say the majority of the cases are likely swine flu.

In its most recent FluView report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 99 percent of recently reported type A flu cases were H1N1.

The association has been collecting information since Aug. 22. Participating colleges in Missouri, which represent 83,674 students, have reported 774 cases in that period. That's more than every bordering state except Tennessee.

Survey findings are important because of the uncertainty surrounding the virus, MU Health Care spokesman Jeff Hoelscher said.

"Right now everyone's trying to understand what's going to happen this season," Hoelscher said.

The majority of cases reported to the ACHA have been mild, said James Turner, association president.

More than 21,000 incidences have resulted in 37 hospitalizations and no deaths.

What is unique is the timing. Flu season doesn't normally begin until late fall or early winter, Turner said.

"It feels like January," he said.

The possibility of mutations to the H1N1 virus has officials at the University of Missouri-Columbia concerned, but the flu is a perennial problem, Hoelscher said.

"We have an epidemic of influenza every year," he said.

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Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.digmo.org