College ‘swine flu’ cases continue to grow

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In its second week of surveying colleges and universities, the American College Health Assn. found 4,045 new cases of presumed pandemic H1N1 influenza, the so-called swine flu, at 149 of the 204 participating schools. That brought the cumulative total for the first two weeks of the survey to 6,043 cases.

The good news is that there were only seven hospitalizations and no deaths.

Schools in Washington, Idaho, Maine and Utah did not report data. That may have led the reported numbers to be lower than the actual number of cases. Washington State University has been in the midst of a major outbreak, with at least 2,500 students seeking assistance from school health authorities. That school reported no hospitalizations or deaths, however.

The highest rates of activity were in the Southeast and Midwest.

-- Thomas H. Maugh II