NOTE: This web page is archived for the Class of 2003. To see the Commencement site for this year's class, click here.

Public Health Information Regarding SARS

Congratulations Graduates! As Commencement approaches, many of us will be gathering with family and friends for graduation ceremonies and related celebrations. Visitors from around the country, and the world, will join our campus for these events.

It is our sincere hope that with this information, you, family, and friends will exercise an appropriate degree of caution, while enjoying all of the festivities related to your graduation.

With many students welcoming family and friends from around the world, all of us on this campus may find guidelines related to SARS helpful. In addition to these points, it is useful to remember that most of our visitors, prior to arriving on campus, have had multiple screenings by public health officials in both their country of origin, and upon arrival in the United States.

While the UMass community has not had any suspected or probable cases of SARS, the staff at University Health Services (UHS) continues to watch the situation very closely, and is taking steps to prepare and protect our community.

In the unlikely event that someone you know arrives in Amherst feeling ill, and has traveled from a region struggling with SARS, please take the following steps:

1. Know the basic symptoms:
   1. fever >100.4 F,
   2. respiratory illness,
   3. and close contact to someone ill with SARS. Areas most affected by SARS are China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Singapore, Vietnam, and Toronto also have cases of SARS, but all are currently successful in containing the illness, with no recent community transmission of the disease.
2. If the person feeling ill has traveled from these regions, please have them stay in their room.
3. Call University Health Services (UHS) at 577-5000. (UHS is open 24 hours a day and is conveniently located on campus.) Ask to speak to a triage nurse, who will advise you on next steps. Cooley Dickenson Hospital, located in nearby Northampton, is another resource. As with UHS, please call the hospital first at 582-2000, giving health care staff an opportunity to prepare for the patient.

A final note on awareness, the single best prevention from any infectious disease, including SARS, is frequent hand washing.

Thank you for reviewing this information. UHS will continue monitoring the SARS situation closely. Meanwhile, we hope that you will enjoy the rewards of your academic accomplishments as the campus community welcomes family and friends to celebrate Commencement 2003. Once again, congratulations!

Sincerely,

Ann Becker RN
Public Health Nurse
University Health Services