The typical winter influenza outbreak has not hit the UW-Madison campus yet, according to University Health Services.
Executive Director of UHS Sarah Von Orman said officials did not see many cases in January.
If you look at the rate of activity in the southeastern region in the state of Wisconsin, the activity is low and we are seeing the same thing at UHS,"" she said. ""So far '¦ things are pretty quiet.""
According to Von Orman, there were 33 cases of influenza in January 2008 and 200 cases in February of the same year.
""It is hard to tell how many cases we will see this February,"" she said. ""Some years you don't have a bad outbreak.""
UHS typically distributes close to 5,000 to 6,000 influenza shots a year, but this year records show that UHS distributed over 8,000 shots in comparison to last year's 7,200.
Orman said there have been no infrequent viruses on campus, but there was an outbreak of shigella, bacteria closely related to E Coli and Salmonella, in the Dane Country area.
According to Orman, the norovirus outbreak, which occurred in the fall, is now cleared but could strike again at any time.
- Erin Banco
