Harvard dental student has 'probable' case of swine flu; school and clinic closed

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

Boston health authorities tonight closed the Harvard dental school's treatment clinic and the university temporarily shut the dental school as a precaution after a third-year student developed "a probable case" of swine flu, city and state health officials announced at a hurriedly called news conference.

Disease investigators from the Boston Public Health Commission are reviewing whether the student treated patients at the Longwood Avenue clinic, and tracking down any students and faculty members who might have had contact with him. The clinic treats about 50 patients a day, and the dental school has more than 200 students, faculty and other staff members.

The commission said it closed the Harvard Dental Center until the extent of the illness could be determined. The officials said they had also requested cancellation of classes for third- and fourth-year, and post-doctoral students and urged those students, and their teachers and staff to stay at home for now.

"We are all concerned, but there's no need for panic," said Dr. David Rosenthal, director of Harvard University Health Services.

The dental student, who was not identified because of patient confidentiality laws, developed symptoms earlier in the week, began taking the medication Tamiflu, and is recovering, city and university authorities said.

Disease investigators believe that the student is probably ill with swine flu for two reasons: According to Rosenthal, the student is believed to have had contact with someone who had traveled to Mexico, epicenter of the swine flu outbreak. And tests conducted at a state lab showed that he was infected with an influenza strain distinctly different from the types that circulate each flu season. Definitive test results are pending at a federal lab.

Barbara Ferrer, the commission's executive director, said that schools are a fertile ground for disease transmission, pointing to the dozens of suspected cases at a preparatory school in New York City.

State officials also said last night that an Amherst College student has a suspected case of swine flu.

And at the urging of the Mexican government, Boston University has shut its study abroad program in Guadalajara and directed approximately 15 engineering students to return to their homes instead of coming back to campus, said Stephen Burgay, a university spokesman.

"We'd rather not bring them back to campus during the incubation period," Burgay said. "That's the advice we've all gotten from public health authorities."

The Mexico program had less than two weeks left in the semester, Burgay said, and the university will work with students to make sure they complete their requirements and receive academic credit.