Nine Amherst College students in isolation with unconfirmed swine flu

Nine students at Amherst College who have tested positive for type A influenza are being treated as if they have the swine flu strain, being isolated in a dorm for up to seven days and taking antiviral medications.

While no cases have been confirmed, two are called probable cases of the strain that is spreading around the world from its epicenter in Mexico. None of the students had traveled to Mexico or could recall having contact with anyone who had been there, the college said.

The students are responding "very well" to the flu medications, college spokeswoman Caroline J. Hanna said today. Their meals are being brought to them in the small, previously unoccupied dorm and they are not attending classes.

The students came to the college's health center earlier this week with mild flu-like symptoms. Rapid tests there, including two last night, indicated they had type A influenza. Hanna declined to give any details about where the students lived or what classes they take.

Two of the samples were then sent to the state Department of Public Health, which characterized them as probable and sent them to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing, Hanna said. The school didn't submit the other samples because it didn't want to overload the already backed-up testing labs.

"Had there been no discussion of swine flu, .... it would just have been treated as a normal type flu," Hanna said, "Our health services said, 'Maybe we should take a second look and let's just be cautious and get this tested.' "

The 1,700-student college in Western Massachusetts has canceled social events but not classes and is setting up additional hand-sanitizing stations at dorms and other buildings on campus, beyond the waterless dispensers already at its fitness center and dining halls. Custodians are doing additional cleaning in the health services building.

Students are encouraged to keep six feet away from anyone who is coughing, sneezing, or showing other signs that look like flu, health director Dr. William H. Morgan said in a message to the college community.