If your roommate is feeling ill, get him or her to a student health center ASAP, and check to see if there's a sick dorm on campus where they can recover.

Conditions on a college campus make it easy for swine flu germs to spread.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—As predicted, there's been an uptick in swine flu cases as students head back to school. It's circulating through some college campuses, affecting not just the general student body, but sidelining college athletes, too. Nearly 20 players on No. 8-ranked University of Mississippi's football team are suffering from flulike symptoms, including the quarterback. In August, members of Duke University's football team were reportedly sickened by the swine flu virus.

Suspected cases of swine flu at Washington State University topped 2,500 shortly after students returned this semester, and a similar outbreak struck across the country at Emory College in Atlanta. While most cases are mild, complications are more likely in children and young adults with underlying illnesses like diabetes, asthma, and other heart and lung disease. And college settings are perfect breeding grounds for spreading diseases like H1N1. "Unfortunately, you'll spread the virus the day before you become ill," explains William Schaffner, MD, chair of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. "College dormitories, classrooms, sports teams, and bars serve as optimal environments for respiratory infections like influenza."

Here's what college students should know about swine flu on campus:

• Know if you're high risk. Students, especially those with underlying medical issues, should go to the student health center as soon as they start coming down with swine flu symptoms such as fever, fatigue, body aches, coughing, and lack of appetite. Some people also are hit with a runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Students facing a higher risk of complications who are showing symptoms may be put on antiviral medication if they get to the healthcare provider within a day or two of showing symptoms. Dr. Schaffner also recommends that all students get the seasonal flu vaccine now, and the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available in mid-October. Because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put children and young adults ages 6 through 24 in the high-priority group for vaccination, most college students will be able to get first dibs on the vaccine, according to Dr. Schaffner.

Here’s how college student can takes steps to protect themselves:

• Keep an eye on your roommate. Since most dorm rooms are small and beds are just feet apart—making flu transmission likely—it's important for college students not just to monitor themselves for the virus, but their roomies, too. "Obviously, if your roommate is ill, your chances of getting it are very good. You want them somewhere else," explains Dr. Schaffner.

Some universities have set up special dorms with TVs, food, and beverages provided, where sick students can recover. Many also have placed hand-washing reminders and sanitizing gels around campus. Most flu cases won't be serious, but it's important to take the ailment seriously. "Ninety-five percent have mild illness, and get better after three or four days," explains Dr. Schaffner. "But occasionally, influenza will take an otherwise healthy child or young adult and put them in the intensive-care unit."