University of Virginia Library

'Hong Kong Flu' Takes Toll
Of First-Year Men In Dorms

Although the dimensions of
sickness from what is generally
believed to be the Hong Kong flu
have not yet been officially termed
epidemic, the number of people
suffering from the disease in the
dorms indicates that the flu is
spreading throughout the school.

In a poll conducted last night by
Bruce Wine, senior counselor in
Watson House, and the senior
counselors of the other first-year
dormitories, 535 students in all
houses reported varying degrees of
illness. This total includes all the
cases on every first-year dorm, with
the exception of Humphreys
House, and shows that
approximately one-third of those
students polled are ill.

Dorm Breakdown

The breakdown of the overall
total of illness in the dormitories is
as follows: Watson, 51; Webb, 47;
Dobie, 73; Balz, 39; Echols, 32;
Hancock, 53; Bonnycastle, 33;
Metcalf, 44; Lefevre, 46; Kent, 38;
Humphreys, 25; and Dabney, 24.

The sickness appears to be
highly-contagious as where one
person is sick, several are sick. "Our
poll shows that the Hong Kong flu
is concentrated in suite and
corridor groups, and that one
person usually has spread it to
others whom he lives with," Mr.
Wine told The Cavalier Daily.

Actually Bed-Ridden

In Dobie, where 73 first-year
students reported sick last night, 22
of the reported cases were students
who were actually bed-ridden,
while the other cases were students
who were either coming down with
or recovering from the illness.

One suite on the second floor of
Watson House reported that at one
time or another during the last two
weeks, everyone of the ten
members of the suite had suffered
from the "flu" and that seven of
them had been sick at the same
time.

When asked how the "flu" had
struck them, one member of the
unfortunate suite said, "One guy
got sick, and as he was recovering
his roommate would come down
with the flu, and very often the
original one who had the illness
would be so weakened that he
would suffer a relapse from being
continually exposed to the germs."

"Andrew D. Hart, director of
Student Health, has serious doubts
about the validity of the cases of
Hong Kong flu that were reported
to Student Health yesterday
afternoon and night," said Mr.
Wine, who talked to Dr. Hart last
night. "He feels that people may be
suffering from the common cold."

Mr. Wine continued, "Many of
the cases that we polled in dorms
were light illnesses, not requiring
hospitalization."