University Health Services implemented its ""surge plan"" Tuesday in response to a continued increase in the number of students reporting influenza symptoms across campus.
According to UHS epidemiologist Craig Roberts, UHS will now place restrictions on the availability of routine appointments as part of the surge plan to keep pace with the growing numbers of influenza cases.
He said although UHS has seen higher than normal numbers of influenza cases this fall, it still remains unclear whether this trend will continue throughout the school year.
""We can't predict if this increase will continue,"" he said. ""It could continue to increase, it could stay like this all semester or it could have just came early this year ... it's impossible to tell.""
According to the UHS website (uhs.wisc.edu), UHS evaluated 198 UW-Madison students with reported influenza symptoms as of Sept. 5.
Roberts said preliminary lab results show that it's likely about 90 percent of these cases are positive for the H1N1 strain.
He said although these numbers are high, they still cannot provide a concrete answer for the impact of the H1N1 on campus.
""That's really only the tip of the iceberg and should be thought of as a marker,"" he said.
""There are certainly more students on campus with influenza who have not been in contact with UHS.""
According to the website, 94 percent of the cases occurred in undergraduates, with a fairly even split between class years.
""It seems to be very widely distributed,"" Roberts said. ""It's not any particular group of people.""
Roberts added the virus seems to be more prevalent in off-campus housing rather than the residence halls.
According to the UHS website, no patients have been hospitalized for the virus. It also said patients have reported sudden symptoms that last 3 to 5 days but respond well to self-care.
Although the symptoms of the virus have been mild, UHS still urges students to self-isolate since the virus is highly contagious and spreads fairly easily.
