US universities see early bouts of swine flu

Swine flu has begun to spread through American universities where more than 1,600 cases of A(H1N1) infections were recorded in the first week of classes, a health group said Thursday.

Some 1,640 new cases were reported at 165 universities across the country that participate in surveillance conducted by the American College Health Association.

There has been only one hospitalization and no fatalities attributed to the virus among the more than two million students who attend the schools, according to ACHA. There are more than 18 million college and university students nationwide.

But with more than 550 deaths attributed to swine flu across the United States since the virus emerged in April, and with 40 percent of global A(H1N1) fatalities being among young adults in good health, education authorities are trying to mitigate what ACHA has described as the “significant risk” of swine flu’s spread in universities.

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