Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Tom Skinner and Sam Stebbins, the director… Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Tom Skinner and Sam Stebbins, the director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health, answered questions about the H1N1 virus in separate interviews with The Pitt News yesterday. Below is a compilation of their remarks.

TPN: How dangerous is the swine flu?

Skinner: For some people, particularly for people with underlying health conditions, it can be serious. For most people, they’re going to feel terrible for a few days — some people describe it as being hit by a train — but, after a few days, they’ll be fine.

TPN: How will the virus affect the lives of college students?

Stebbins: It may be disruptive, without necessarily being dangerous. If enough students get sick at once, you may go through a phase where you’re disrupting some classes.

TPN: How many Pitt students do you predict will contract swine flu this year?

Stebbins: We could easily see between one-quarter to one-third of the campus infected. Many of them will have really mild symptoms. There are going to be enough cases at Pitt where some students will get sick enough to be hospitalized.

TPN: What should someone do if they think they might have swine flu?

Stebbins: If students feel that they may have some symptoms of the flu, they should definitely contact Student Health Services. The vast majority of people who get this will have mild-to-moderate symptoms. Even moderate flu can wipe you out for a few days, but it’s not necessarily dangerous. If people fall into the high-risk groups and symptoms are severe, they should contact their medical provider.

TPN: What high-risk groups are we most likely to find on a college campus?

Stebbins: Anyone who’s pregnant, anyone with serious diseases like diabetes, severe asthma, HIV or active cancer.

TPN: Are college students at a higher risk for the complications of H1N1 than other groups?

Stebbins: No, but a lot more kids and young adults seem to be getting infected, which is different from the regular flu. People may be feeling more anxious, but the risk is still the same.

TPN: What do you think of the measures being taken to prevent the spread of the illness on campuses?

Skinner: If someone has this virus, they need to be separated from other people. If they’re going to come into contact with people, they need to be wearing a mask. Stay about 6 feet away from infected people. That can go a long way toward preventing the spread of this.

TPN: How is the virus most easily transmitted?

Skinner: It’s primarily transmitted through respiratory droplets. Usually, people cough and other people acquire this through the respiratory droplets of the sick person. You can also pick it up through surfaces — doorknobs and such — but the primary transmission is respiratory droplets. The key is getting sick people away from healthy people.

TPN: Once you’ve recovered from swine flu, are you immune?

Stebbing: It’s very likely that once you’re done being infected, you’re immune — even if it’s a mild case. Maybe [immune people] are the right people to help others who get sick. That’s how they did it in the old days. To my knowledge, you can’t give it back and fourth to people between people who have it.

TPN: How concerned should students be about this?

Stebbins: Everybody drives on the road knowing it’s a little risky out there. We don’t think about dying, even though it happens to people. It’s kind of like that. There’s going to be reports of people who get seriously ill and die. When you get in your car, you wear your seatbelt and you have airbags.

TPN: Considering the risks of swine flu are similar to those of the normal influenza virus, why are Pitt and other universities reacting to this virus differently?

Stebbins: I think people are trying to find the right balance. We won’t know what that is until we can look back and say this was better than we expected or worse than we expected.

TPN: Considering the risks of swine flu are similar to those of the normal influenza virus, why are Pitt and other universities reacting to this virus differently?

Stebbins: I think people are trying to find the right balance. We won’t know what that is until we can look back and say this was better than we expected or worse than we expected.

TPN: What’s the biggest swine flu misconception out there?

Stebbins: People feel that they have to make a choice. Either they really worry about it or decide that they shouldn’t pay any attention. I think the smart student finds a middle ground where they’re not hugely worried, but they’re paying attention and following the recommendations.