Coronavirus College Guide: How To Avoid Getting Sick On Campus
Jill Grimes, MD, the urgent care physician at the University of Texas at Austin, offers medical advice amid heightened COVID-19 fears.
AUSTIN, TX —The dynamics of university life — living in dorms or other closed quarters, interacting daily with scores of people and attending classes in crowded, sometimes cramped rooms — have yielded heightened alarm among the college set in the wake of new coronavirus outbreak.
Enter Jill Grimes, MD, the urgent care physician at the University of Texas at Austin, in offering useful advice to students seeking to avoid infection. The respiratory ailment commanding headlines now renamed as COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past.
And on college campuses, it's causing nothing short of panic. The mother of two college-aged kids herself, Grimes has detected the fear even outside her professional physician's role, she told Patch during a telephone interview. "I'm getting texts from friends with kids in college, and they're freaking out over coronavirus," she said.
Given the lack of a vaccine or anti-viral to deal with the scourge, the fear is understandable. Moreover, a university setting is exceeded only by a daycare environment in terms of exposure to germs and constant interactions with different people, Grimes noted. Yet there are myriad, common-sense precautions that can be taken to prevent being infected, Grimes said.
"We're trying to stop people from touching their face," Grimes said succinctly in starting off the conversation. Then, she reiterated advice with the cadence of mantra: "Constant hand washing."
The face-touching avoidance is to prevent getting germs onto ones nasal passage or mouth that may have been picked up from contact with doorknobs or surfaces where the virus might lurk. Gross alert: The thing causing sickness are respiratory droplets emitted by an infected person that may carry the virus causing COVID-19.
The same advice dispensed to avoid getting the flu applies to this new virus, Grimes suggested, noting the greater threat posed by influenza than the exotic virus that's now commanding headlines. "I'm far more concerned about the flu," Grimes said. "Definitely part of my message is get your dang flu shot. We have an effective vaccine with a 45 percent efficacy, but that's better than zero." Vaccinations for treatment of the flu, she explained, don't necessarily avoid infection but lessen the severity of symptoms: "The vaccine prevent you from being hospitalized or dying."
As such, "I think the fear is certainly out of proportion to our current level of risk," she said of COVID-19. "The one thing that's scary about coronavirus versus the flu is we have no antii-viral known to work against it. It's scary because all we have is supportive treatment and not anything to kill the bug yet. But the magnitude of the flu is far more severe."
Also unknown is the life expectancy of the virus in an external setting — on desks, laptops, cell phones and other surfaces. Other versions of the virus were found to have a week-long lifetime outside the body, she said, but the longevity of COVID-19 once exposed is still unknown.
To counter the fear, she offered myriad tips on COVID-19 avoidance on campus:
What's more, she said antibacterial gel is being made available by professors for student use in classrooms, and they don't appear to be in short supply. "Most college campuses have the dispensers, and don't seem to have any shortage," she said. Additionally, those studying abroad arriving or recalled from countries of high COVID-19 concentration are carefully monitored before being returned to their dorms, she added.
On the subject of travel, Grimes said she's seen attendant fears centered on foreign students — particularly from countries with high COVID-19 cases such as China or Iran. "We're trying to dispel those fears," she said. "We're seeing bias against people from any of the infected areas. There's definitely misinformation, and a lot of fear."
With Spring Break right around the corner, students are especially advised to heed the doctor's advice. As students travel to other spots for their time off, their guards will be down as alcoholic beverages may be abundant as they seek to relax. Grimes advised students to adhere to the safety tips, but also to avoid sharing drinks during Spring Break to avoid getting infected by a carrier.
Finally, given the need to stay healthy now more than before, Grimes advised students to practice good diets, exercise and plenty of sleep. For more tips on staying healthy, Grimes referred to the healthyhorns.utexas.edu website replete with helpful advice.
As it happens, Grimes is the author of a book centered on college student's health that's set for upcoming release prepared long before the advent of COVID-19. The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook: Your Guide for Everything from Hangovers to Homesickness is available for pre-order ahead of a May 5 release from Skyhorse Publishing.
Editor's note: Don't miss the latest coronavirus updates from health and government officials in the Austin area. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters for what you need to know daily.
Jill Grimes, MD, the urgent care physician at the University of Texas at Austin, offers medical advice amid heightened COVID-19 fears.
AUSTIN, TX —The dynamics of university life — living in dorms or other closed quarters, interacting daily with scores of people and attending classes in crowded, sometimes cramped rooms — have yielded heightened alarm among the college set in the wake of new coronavirus outbreak.
Enter Jill Grimes, MD, the urgent care physician at the University of Texas at Austin, in offering useful advice to students seeking to avoid infection. The respiratory ailment commanding headlines now renamed as COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past.
And on college campuses, it's causing nothing short of panic. The mother of two college-aged kids herself, Grimes has detected the fear even outside her professional physician's role, she told Patch during a telephone interview. "I'm getting texts from friends with kids in college, and they're freaking out over coronavirus," she said.
Given the lack of a vaccine or anti-viral to deal with the scourge, the fear is understandable. Moreover, a university setting is exceeded only by a daycare environment in terms of exposure to germs and constant interactions with different people, Grimes noted. Yet there are myriad, common-sense precautions that can be taken to prevent being infected, Grimes said.
"We're trying to stop people from touching their face," Grimes said succinctly in starting off the conversation. Then, she reiterated advice with the cadence of mantra: "Constant hand washing."
The face-touching avoidance is to prevent getting germs onto ones nasal passage or mouth that may have been picked up from contact with doorknobs or surfaces where the virus might lurk. Gross alert: The thing causing sickness are respiratory droplets emitted by an infected person that may carry the virus causing COVID-19.
The same advice dispensed to avoid getting the flu applies to this new virus, Grimes suggested, noting the greater threat posed by influenza than the exotic virus that's now commanding headlines. "I'm far more concerned about the flu," Grimes said. "Definitely part of my message is get your dang flu shot. We have an effective vaccine with a 45 percent efficacy, but that's better than zero." Vaccinations for treatment of the flu, she explained, don't necessarily avoid infection but lessen the severity of symptoms: "The vaccine prevent you from being hospitalized or dying."
As such, "I think the fear is certainly out of proportion to our current level of risk," she said of COVID-19. "The one thing that's scary about coronavirus versus the flu is we have no antii-viral known to work against it. It's scary because all we have is supportive treatment and not anything to kill the bug yet. But the magnitude of the flu is far more severe."
Also unknown is the life expectancy of the virus in an external setting — on desks, laptops, cell phones and other surfaces. Other versions of the virus were found to have a week-long lifetime outside the body, she said, but the longevity of COVID-19 once exposed is still unknown.
To counter the fear, she offered myriad tips on COVID-19 avoidance on campus:
- Constant hand washing. "College students don't do some of the routine things their parents do," Grimes said. The key to avoid infection is to wash one's hands frequently. And that 20-second rule related to the length of time for hand-scrubbing is real, she agreed.
- Cleaning your belongings. It's important for students to wipe down surfaces where their hands are in constant contact — desks in a classroom, for example. It's also important to wipe laptops and cell phones that are in constant use. "We're transmitting germs on our phone," she said. "If you have a plastic cover on it, use the wipe on the plastic.. She suggested wiping phone thoroughly with a wipe followed by drying with a paper towel. Patch asked about the effectiveness of the technique given the efficacy of anti-bacterial gels achieved with a minimum 60 percent alcohol content. Grimes' response: "My general take on that is that although we don't know specifics, wipes greatly reduce the leval of viable virus there."
- Wash those pillowcases. One's face is sunk into a pillowcase at bedtime, making the tactics of hygiene paramount. Ideally, pillowcases should be washed once a week, she said. Short of that, twice a month is a good rule to follow. She also advised having extra, clean pillowcases on hand for the busiest of students in order to cut down on time at the laundry room.
- Wear disposable gloves if you must. We've not reached a dystopian landscape amid COVID-19, but Grimes agreed wearing disposable gloves would prevent contact with germs. If going that route, students should take them off by inverting them carefully before disposal to avoid re-contamination. "For the intense germaphobe, disposable gloves might be the way to go," Grimes said, although adding she's not personally at that level of caution yet.
- The myth of masks. In her recent travels, Grimes said she's seen an increasing number of people wearing surgical masks in their attempts to avoid sickness. On one recent flight, she estimates a quarter of the passengers wore the devices — but several without covering the noise, rendering the accessory pointless. The thing is, masks are more suited to those who are sick and seek to avoid infecting others by emitting their respiratory droplets into the air. "The only reason we want lay people using masks for is if they're coughing, to keep their respiratory droplets to themselves," Grimes said, adding that the top portion over the nose and the bottom part under the chin should be pinched for full effectiveness. Masks' status as as tool of prevention, however, are nil: "It doesn't prevent the teeny tiny particles that carry COVID-19," Grimes explained.
- How about those real fancy masks? In light of the virus, some people have taken to securing heavy-duty masks of the so-called "respirator 95" variety. As the name implies, the masks block out 95 percent of the virus. But they're impractical, costly and cumbersome, she noted. "We're not recommending people wear them," she said. "They are difficult to breathe out of and they'r sweaty and uncomfortable."
What's more, she said antibacterial gel is being made available by professors for student use in classrooms, and they don't appear to be in short supply. "Most college campuses have the dispensers, and don't seem to have any shortage," she said. Additionally, those studying abroad arriving or recalled from countries of high COVID-19 concentration are carefully monitored before being returned to their dorms, she added.
On the subject of travel, Grimes said she's seen attendant fears centered on foreign students — particularly from countries with high COVID-19 cases such as China or Iran. "We're trying to dispel those fears," she said. "We're seeing bias against people from any of the infected areas. There's definitely misinformation, and a lot of fear."
With Spring Break right around the corner, students are especially advised to heed the doctor's advice. As students travel to other spots for their time off, their guards will be down as alcoholic beverages may be abundant as they seek to relax. Grimes advised students to adhere to the safety tips, but also to avoid sharing drinks during Spring Break to avoid getting infected by a carrier.
Finally, given the need to stay healthy now more than before, Grimes advised students to practice good diets, exercise and plenty of sleep. For more tips on staying healthy, Grimes referred to the healthyhorns.utexas.edu website replete with helpful advice.
As it happens, Grimes is the author of a book centered on college student's health that's set for upcoming release prepared long before the advent of COVID-19. The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook: Your Guide for Everything from Hangovers to Homesickness is available for pre-order ahead of a May 5 release from Skyhorse Publishing.
Editor's note: Don't miss the latest coronavirus updates from health and government officials in the Austin area. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters for what you need to know daily.
It was no real surprise to me that she couldnt find any.
