ILLNESS UPDATE: Contact Health Department If You Were Affected

The College sent out another press release today informing students of a number to call and extensions to reach to help the Health Department determine the cause of the campus-wide illness.

While official reports state 36 students were treated at the hospital, observation from the WotM news center pegs the number of affected students much higher.

Please contact (740) 373-0611 to speak with someone at the Marietta Health Department. Dial extension 104, 108 or 109 to reach a contact.

Here’s the press release from Tom Perry.

To the Marietta College community:

In an effort to help pinpoint the origins of the ongoing illness on campus, the Marietta City Health Department has asked that we encourage any students or employees who have experienced gastrointestinal illness since Thursday, Jan. 14 to please contact them at (740) 373-0611. Please dial extension 104, 108 or 109 to reach someone.

Every opportunity the City Health Department has to interview anyone who has been ill increases their ability to find a cause for the increase of illnesses on campus.

Please be assured that your medical information is held in the strictest confidence according to HIPAA protocol.

As we shared with you in yesterday’s correspondence, some early test results conducted by the Marietta City Health Department are positive for a bacterium that could be transmitted by food or water. However, a majority of the tests were negative. Therefore, all test samples are being forwarded to the state health department for further testing to determine if it is bacterial or viral.

College officials want to encourage all students to frequently wash their hands to prevent the spread of any illness transmitted from person-to-person. The City Health Department has provided us with and we will be sharing a Fact Sheet on the spread of bacteria with all students and employees today.

Fecal contamination on hands is one way a bacterium spreads, so the guidelines we put out about preventing H1N1 would apply here as they do to so many illnesses. Washing hands often and keeping your hands away from your mouth are the best things you can do to stay well.

The staff at Gilman are continuing to disinfect the dining area, and Physical Plant staff are disinfecting highly frequented common areas to help reduce the spread of illness.

The College continues to cooperate with the City Health Department and Marietta Memorial to help pinpoint the origins of the illness.

As a precautionary measure, Izzy’s, Chlapaty Café and Gilman Express will remain closed indefinitely. Gilman Dining Hall will expand its hours throughout the week to include full meals instead of continental hours until the satellite operations are re-opened. Hours of operation are as follows:

Breakfast: 7-11 a.m., Monday-Friday
Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday-Friday
Dinner: 3-8 p.m., Monday-Friday

In an effort to reduce the spread of illness, Dining Services will hand all food to students at Gilman, and eliminate any self-service stations.

If you are presenting any symptoms, please contact your Resident Director, or report to the Office of Student Life or the Campus Health Center. If you need emergency assistance we encourage you to go to Marietta Memorial Hospital.

We will update the campus community when additional information is available.

~ Tom Perry, Director of College Relations