UI officials are emphasizing this message: Most students and faculty with H1N1-related symptoms should stay at home.

Though nurses at Student Health Service will evaluate walk-in patients who think they may have the virus, students without complicating illnesses — like diabetes or asthma — should avoid public places and call the Nurseline with questions, said Lisa James, interim administrative director of Student Health.

“Likely, we’ll tell [students] the same thing on the phone that we’ll tell them in person,” she said, noting that when sick people leave home to seek treatment for H1N1, they expose others to the illness.

Faculty members can visit the UI Employee Health Clinic, but officials would rather them also call in if possible.

However, officials are less concerned about faculty walk-ins, because the H1N1 virus is more prevalent in younger age groups, said Dan Fick, a UI clinical professor of family practice.

UI officials are in the final stages of editing a message with H1N1-related instructions for faculty and staff, said Associate Provost Susan Johnson, and it will be similar to e-mails already sent out to students.

Tyler McConville, a UI sophomore, said he recently visited Student Health with concerns about possibly having H1N1.

McConville is one of hundreds of students who Student Health officials said have shown up, despite officials’ recommendation that those with H1N1-like symptoms remain at home and call the Nurseline with questions.

But McConville said he didn’t know the hotline was available. McConville’s symptoms vanished for a few days and then returned later in the week.

“I decided enough was enough, and I just went in there,” he said. He now says he wishes he had known he could call the Nurseline instead.

After visiting, he said, his instructions were clear. He was advised to stay isolated from people until his symptoms retreated, he said.

Other students with flu-like symptoms have been trekking out to Student Health as well, James said.

Students can also access information on the UI Student Health website, James said.

Instructions for those with the illness are fairly basic, she said. Sick people should get plenty of rest and fluids, and take Tylenol or ibuprofen to reduce fevers.

“The [students with flu-like symptoms] we’ve talked to seem to be recovering OK,” she said, and symptoms in most have lasted from four to seven days.