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Mumps threat runs the halls
Students take steps to avoid spreading virus
BY RACHEL PARKER
rparker@kansan.com
KANSA STAFF WRITE
Students living in KU housing are taking the necessary precautions to avoid the spread of mumps, with 29 probable cases at the University as of Tuesday.
Toni Bergquist, Holton freshman and Lewis Hall resident, said she was diagnosed Thursday with the mumps, and she left that same day to spend time at home with her family. She held the assumption that she was infected by someone in one of her classes.
Andrea Hasenauer, Olathe sophomore who lives across the hall from Bergquist, said she wasn't too worried about becoming infected because her parents informed her she had already had the mumps.
Hasenauer said Bergquist's roommates disinfected the room. She said a few people on her floor were uneasy about the breakout, but most were just going along with their lives.
"If it happens, it happens," Hasenauer said.
Diana Robertson, interim director for the Department of Student Housing, said that she knew of one student currently confined to a residence hall who had been diagnosed with the mumps.
Robertson said that some students diagnosed had chosen to leave their residence halls and isolate themselves at home, as they were advised to do by Watkins Memorial Health Center. During the contagious period, this reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to other students in residence halls.
The updated campus mumps information notice for students stated the Kansas Department of Health and Environment had defined the isolation period for mumps to be four days after symptoms first occurred. However, the Department also said that symptoms could be present 12 to 25 days after someone became infected.
University housing has distributed notices to all students in residence halls, scholarship halls, Jayhawker Towers and Stouffer Place Apartments.
Jennifer Wamelink, assistant director of residence life, said flyers were posted in residence halls, and student housing staff received frequently asked questions documents so students' questions about mumps could be answered.
Documents from Watkins give students tips on what to do to be exposed to the infection as little as possible. Students are reminded to cover their mouths and noses when they sneeze or cough, wash their hands frequently and not share food and drinks with others. The ultimate precaution is for students to be quarantined and to stay away from those infected.
Edited by Matt Wilson
Mumps
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Kansas is not the only state in the Midwest dealing with mumps. Iowa has reported 515 cases and Nebraska 55. Missouri has reported a small number as well.
Kansas and Iowa health officials are looking for any links between the two states and their mumps outbreaks, though none have been identified, said Hansen.
Concerning the University's handling of the mumps situation, Kim Ens, disease control program coordinator for Douglas County, said that the county and the University had been working together very closely to get the word out to both students and Douglas County residents about how to avoid contracting the virus.
Hansen said that the University and Douglas County were doing a "stellar job" of working
Ens said the best way to protect yourself was to be immunized by receiving an MMR — Mumps, Measles and Rubella — shot. In Kansas — and most states across the country — schools require that a child have two MMR shots before being allowed to begin kindergarten.
together
Hansen said that 75 percent of the 48 reported cases received at least one immunization.
Rodenberg and Hansen both said that at this stage in the mumps investigation process, the KDHE was not as concerned with finding where the problem originated, but more with preventing the virus from spreading further.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3A
Ens, meanwhile, said that she was optimistic that the problem will get worked out.
Edited by Kathryn Anderson
The 48 mumps cases reported in Kansas this year — including 37 in Douglas County and 29 among KU students — is nearly three times the number of mumps cases reported in the state in the past dozen years.
MUMPS BOOM
1994 1
1995 0
1996 2
1997 1
1998 2
1999 3
2000 0
2001 2
2002 2
2003 1
2004 4
2005 0
2006 48
Source: Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Looking to avoid a big mess
Roy Paton takes a break from sandbagging at Wayne Newell's farm to protect it from the Pembina River near Neche, N.D., Tuesday as he and other volunteers wait for more sandbags to be delivered. Eric Hyden/GRAND FORKS HERALD
in Oklahoma.
NATION
OKLAHOMA CITY — A state appellate court scheduled a June 1 execution date Tuesday for a 74-year-old death row inmate who would be the oldest person ever executed
The Okiahoma Court of Criminal Appeals scheduled the execution of John Albert Boltz, who was sentenced to die for the murder of his 23-year-old stepson 22 years ago. Attorney General Drew Edmondson said.
The oldest inmate ever put to death in Oklahoma is
Court issues execution for 74-year-old inmate
Robert Hendricks, 64, who was executed in 1957, said Jerry Massie, spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Boltz is the second inmate scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in as many months.
The Associated Press
Newspaper editors for fall, summer selected
The University Daily Kansan Board has named the editors and business managers for the summer and fall terms.
For editors, the Kansan has named Erick R. Schmidt as editor for the summer and named Jonathan Kealing as editor for the fall. Schmidt is associate sports editor this semester. Kealing is the current editor.
For business managers, the Kansan has selected Scott Kvasnik as summer business manager and Kyle Hoedl as fall business manager. Kvasnik is currently the special sections manager and Hoedl is a zone manager.
All four will begin selecting staffs in the next few days. Applications for business staff positions are available online at jobs.ku.edu and applications for editors will be online beginning Thursday,
Questions can be directed to Schmidt or Kealing at 864-4810 or eschmidt@kansan. com and jkealing@kansan. com.
Questions for Kvasnik and Hoedl can be directed to 864-4358 or adddirector@kansan.com.
- Kansan staff reports
LAWRENCE
Cause of house fire still unknown
The cause of a house fire that killed a puppy Monday night was still unknown Tuesday.
The structure fire at 2003 Emerald Drive, near the intersection of 19th Street and Naismith Drive, caused £90,000 in damage.
Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical personnel responded to a 911 call at 10:35 p.m. and controlled the fire within 30 minutes.
Catherine Odson