According to a report released by a presidential advisory panel on Monday, the H1N1 virus could potentially infect half of the U.S. population and a potential 90,000 deaths could result.

Unlike most viruses, H1N1 puts college-aged students at greatest risk for infection. As the school year begins and other colleges like Mississippi State University report 209 probable cases of the virus known as swine flu, one would expect a full-scale assault on the virus at Vanderbilt.

Residential advisors have distributed hand sanitizer and a letter from the Student Health Center with helpful tips for students on keeping well and preventing a possible spread of the virus, but the university response has been a little underwhelming.

There is no doubt this pandemic has been blown slightly out of proportion and there is no need to panic, but an e-mail or statement from a Vanderbilt administrator would be nice.

There are five confirmed cases of swine flu within the Vanderbilt community thus far and rumors of additional cases, but we have yet to receive any sort of official announcement explaining the university’s prevention strategy or how the university has prepared for a potential campuswide outbreak. We do have an emergency preparedness plan and the Vanderbilt Web site contains a section entitled, “Be prepared for flu season.” It is just a matter of publicizing it.

Vanderbilt is one of eight testing sites for swine flu shots in the country. The Student Health Center is equipped with Tamiflu, the drug used to alleviate the virus’ symptoms. With all of these resources, the university should be ahead of the curve in dealing with the virus.

It has been difficult to get information from the administration about the current status of the virus on campus. With a new class of freshmen just arriving, maybe Vanderbilt is waiting for parents to get off campus before breaking the news. At the same time, Vanderbilt could be concerned that too much emphasis on H1N1 will cause unrest among students.

Some people have received letters in their residential areas and Dean of Students Mark Bandas says that in the next couple of weeks the Student Health Center will update the Vanderbilt community on the status of H1N1 on campus. Hand sanitizer dispensers have appeared all over campus, but the lack of any significant communication with students has made the whole situation a little mysterious. The university claims to be well prepared, but administrators need to better communicate that fact to concerned parents and students. In the coming weeks we will see if Vanderbilt’s response was enough to prevent the spread of the virus and a campuswide problem.