They acknowledge it's a long shot, but administrators are preparing for the possibility of SARS showing up as an uninvited commencement guest.
The administration is requesting that students ask guests from affected regions to monitor themselves for symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a highly contagious pneumonia spread by person-to-person contact. Anyone who suspects he or she might be infected should not attend commencement or other public events, the administration said.
The administration will be telling students this in an e-mail next week, said Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell. She met with University officials -- including University spokesman Dennis O'Shea and Student Health and Wellness Center DirectorAlan Joffee -- yesterday morning in order to hash out the details of the message.
"We don't want to alarm anyone, but I think we're just trying to strike a balance," Boswell said. "We're kind of taking an educational approach."
While some parents and students have called O'Shea's office to ask about University preparations, the e-mail is a proactive measure, O'Shea said.
"The primary point that we're going to make is we're going to ask students if they have guests coming to commencement [from affected regions to] ask those guests to monitor their health while they're here," O'Shea said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned people against nonessential travel to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam. The World Health Organization lifted the Toronto travel advisory yesterday.
The measure doesn't just apply to international students: "There could very well be American citizen students who plan to have guests at commencement who either live in or have been to SARS-infected areas," O'Shea said.
The e-mail will detail SARS symptoms based on Joffe's medical guidance.
SARS begins with a fever and, in some cases, headaches and overall discomfort, according to the CDC. After two to seven days, patients may develop a dry cough and breathing difficulties.
If guests show symptoms, "we're going to ask them not to come to the commencement ceremonies or other public facilities," said O'Shea.
If a suspected victim is the guest of a Homewood student, he or she should call the Health and Wellness Center, said O'Shea. Health center employees have been trained to screen for symptoms.
If the Center believes a person may have SARS, he or she will be transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital, said O'Shea.
