Students get 'Pullman Plague' by being students

Students contracted “The Pullman Plague,” or H1N1 as university officials prefer, at the beginning of the semester because they were sleep-deprived, ate poorly and partied excessively, according to findings from focus groups conducted by WSU.

“Students at Washington State University did what most students do the week they return to college: wear themselves down with late night parties, little sleep, poor eating habits, and a general need to be with as many fellow students as possible,” stated a news release from the Washington Health Foundation and WSU’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.

The college and the WHF conducted two focus groups with 20 students total. The 20 were split into two groups: 10 students who got sick and 10 who did not. They also spoke with two communication officers who dealt with the public and media throughout the H1N1 outbreak.

“(Our research) definitely wasn’t quantitative,” said Jennifer Muhm, WHF’s vice president of public affairs. “It was qualitative, more anecdotal.”

Officials conducting the research asked students how they thought they contracted the flu, what their symptoms were, where they sought information about the illness and what advice they would give to fellow students.

Professor Erica Austin was the lead researcher for the focus groups. She traveled to Seattle on Wednesday to present the findings to the media, state officials and other members of the academic community dealing with the flu on their campuses.

Austin said that while the process wasn’t scientific, it allowed officials to gauge the university’s success in dealing with the outbreak. She also said it allows them to make projections about how students are dealing with the outbreak and who they went to for information. She said students were largely consistent in that regard.

“To a person they said, ‘Mom, or Mom and Dad,’” Austin said. “(From that) you can get an idea of what students were thinking about.”

Paula Adams, spokeswoman for WSU Health and Wellness Services, also took part in the focus groups. As for the findings that say students got sick because of their active social lives, Adams said she doesn’t think a majority of students are out partying every night and exposing themselves to infection.

“Most (students) are doing what they need to do to take care of themselves,” Adams said. “(But) I want people to understand that they can do all they can to protect themselves and still get it.”

As for the term, “Pullman Plague,” Austin said that, to her knowledge, the term was coined by a student in one of the groups.

“It’s an unfortunate term,” she said. “(But) I can see why someone would come up with that.”

Adams discouraged the use of that term, as well as “swine flu.” She said HWS stopped using the term “swine flu” because it perpetuates the false idea that you can catch the flu from eating pork, which is untrue.

“Calling it the ‘Pullman Plague’ is just as wrong as calling it the ‘swine flu,’” she said.