My Colby-Sawyer Experience
"At the end of the day, you have to do the work. It's especially hard in a creative field because professors don't want something you did in ten minutes."
- Marc Pederson, Hogan Center staff, Colby-Sawyer student, business owner
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illness prevention
This page is intended to help you make good health choices and to keep you from losing valuable time and energy to illness. Community living brings its own unique challenges to staying healthy and the Baird Center is your campus health resource for questions, concerns, evaluations, testing, referrals and support.
All information and visits are confidential and will not be released to anyone without your written authorization except in situations where life is in danger or by court order.
Information published on this page is not a "one-size-fits-all". Please contact the Baird Center if you have questions about your illness, if your illness is severe or prolonged, or if your illness is complicated by other issues.
If you have any chronic illness such as asthma, diabetes, immune system deficiencies, cardiac or other serious conditions, evaluation of any illness by health care providers is strongly recommended.
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
The American College Health Association (ACHA) has formed a SARS workgroup to determine guidelines for colleges and universities in dealing with SARS. This workgroup has had the opportunity to provide college health input to the CDC as that agency continues to formulate and update SARS guidelines affecting colleges and universities.
The SARS workgroup is in the process of drafting guidelines and will be finalizing the document based on CDC guidelines including those most recently released.
Because this is a work in progress, Baird Health and Counseling Center advises you to refer to the web sites of the ACHA and the CDC for the most recent information affecting the students, faculty, staff, and families of our colleges and universities.
Influenza Guidelines
The FLU is a viral infection of the nose, throat, bronchial tubes, and lungs that can make someone of any age ill. This usually comes on very quickly and can spread through a community like CSC where people are in close contact with one another. It is spread by respiratory droplets from sneezes, coughs, sharing drinks, or coming in contact with the respiratory secretions of someone who has the virus.
If you get the FLU, you usually have chills and/or fever, a cough, and soreness or aching in your back, arms, and legs. People with the FLU are usually in bed for a few days, although some people become seriously ill and may need hospitalization.
You can put yourself IN CONDITION to meet this challenge by doing several simple things:
*Get enough sleep: 7-10 hours each day.
*Eat at least three well-balanced meals a day.
*Drink plenty of water and nutritious fluids.
*Avoid caffeine and alcohol which dehydrate you.
*Minimize your exposure to flu.
*Avoid cigarette smoke and other respiratory irritants.
*Put humidity in your environment.
*Wash your hands frequently.
Anyone who wants to decrease their chance of getting influenza should consider annual vaccination. It is recommended for people who live in group settings as well as other high risk groups including those who smoke, have a history of asthma or bronchitis, diabetes, or any chronic illness. A FLU clinic is held annually on campus in the late Fall for the convenience of our population at a modest cost. Watch for the notices.
If you get the FLU, push fluids, rest, and reduce fever and body aches by taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil). Those under the age of 25 should not use Aspirin for fever. Flu is not treated with antibiotics because it is a viral illness, but complications can occur and must be evaluated for proper management.
Call Baird Health & Counseling Center at 526-3621 for more information or the evaluation and treatment of this or any other illness.
National Sleep Foundation Information
Adolescent Health Information
