Shopping for college supplies? Don't forget the thermometers, ibuprofen, Tylenol, Gatorade and hand sanitizer. Connecticut colleges and universities are advising students to have those products on hand for the expected return of the H1N1 virus, popularly known as swine flu.

Shopping for college supplies? Don't forget the thermometers, ibuprofen, Tylenol, Gatorade and hand sanitizer.

Connecticut colleges and universities are advising students to have those products on hand for the expected return of the H1N1 virus, popularly known as swine flu. The recommendation is part of an overall strategy for dealing with outbreaks on campuses.

Schools are spreading information via e-mails and letters to students and parents and college websites. Staff members are also stockpiling flu-related supplies, finding space on campus to isolate sick students who can't go home, and preparing clinics for when the flu vaccine arrives.

"There's a race between the vaccine and the virus," said Mike Kurland, director of student health services at the University of Connecticut. "What we are trying to do is prevent the spread until enough people can be vaccinated against the virus. ... We are undertaking a massive public health communications marketing campaign."

State epidemiologist Dr. Matthew Cartter said there already have been outbreaks at the University of Alabama and other colleges and schools in the South and West.

"We need to keep a close eye on what's happening in other parts of the country," he said. "We have the benefit of watching other schools open earlier than us and seeing what they experience."

The virus hasn't changed since its appearance last spring and is still affecting predominantly younger people, Cartter said. "Given our experience in May or June, we would expect something at least as severe as that."

For most colleges, the first step is to make sure students understand that this year is different and that if they are feeling sick, they shouldn't just tough it out and go to class.

"We are encouraging them to go to the health services and have it confirmed," said Frederick Alford, dean of students at Trinity College. Students with the flu will be asked to go home to recover, and if they can't go home, a space will be found on campus where they can recover, Alford said. A few staff and faculty members also have offered to let a sick student come to their home to recover, he said.

Kurland said that with most UConn students living within a few hours of campus, "we're hoping families will take their children home" if they become sick.

At Yale University, where many students are far from home, Martha Highsmith, deputy secretary of the university, said plans are underway to let students who have the flu remain in their rooms and have meals and liquids delivered to them.

"We've had plans in place for the past four years to deal with variations of a flu pandemic," Highsmith said. "It's just a matter of activating those."

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy had a swine flu outbreak over the summer, and Lt. Charlene Criss shared the academy's experience with college representatives at a recent meeting.

Criss said that during the academy's boot camp known as "swab summer" in July, about 40 people, including cadets and staff, became ill with H1N1, and another 50 contracted another influenza-like virus.

Criss said cadets were kept at the academy and isolated in the infirmary. When there were too many to house there, a satellite infirmary was set up in a barracks.

The most challenging aspects of the situation, Criss said, were the logistics of getting all the meals delivered to the patients, having enough clean linens, and removing trash from the sick areas because cleaning staff were reluctant to enter the areas.

The academy followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, keeping the cadets isolated for a full seven days from the onset of symptoms.

CDC rules now state that swine flu patients should be kept isolated for 24 hours after their fever is gone.

Criss said the outbreak was over in three to four weeks.