More than 50 students at the University of Missouri-Columbia have reported flu-like symptoms and are suspected of having swine flu.

“Novel H1N1 influenza (”swine flu”) is present at MU,” Chancellor Brady Deaton wrote in an email yesterday to faculty, staff and students. “Please stay at home and do not not come to work if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms.”

Deaton noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 30 to 50 percent of the population may become affected by the swine flu.

Students were told not to come to class if they have flu-like symptoms and to wait 24 hours after the fever subsides before returning to class.

MU Provost Brian Foster told faculty to develop alternative instructional plans in case they have to miss a class for a personal or family illness. In the email, he asked professors to be flexible with attendance policies to accommodate student absences. He also suggested that professors consider alternatives for assignments and deadlines.

As of Friday, 48 students had reported flu-like symptoms to the student health center. Since then, the school has seen an increasing number of students contacting the student health center with flu-related symptoms, said Christian Basi, an MU spokesman. But he said those numbers do not reflect an accurate count since it is highly likely that students are also going to other medical clinics or treating themselves without going to the student health center.

Students with flu-like symptoms are presumed to have swine flu because it is too early for the seasonal flu, Basi added.

Colleges have been making plans and preparing for swine flu. I checked around this morning with a couple of other large residential universities in the St. Louis area and did not find any other cases of swine flu yet. But schools are expecting cases to start popping up any day now.

Washington University’s Dr. Alan Glass, director of the health center, said there have been not been any diagnosed flu cases at his campus yet, but the school is on the alert. Any student coming to the student center with some flu-like symptoms is immediately given a mask to wear and is taken to a nurse triage area where they are examined, he said.

Washington U. has put into place an infectious disease task force preparing for a potentially large volume of sick students and for large-scale vaccinations once the swine flu vaccine becomes available. The school is also planning to put more hand sanitizer in buildings and in high-traffic areas around campus in the coming days and weeks.

“We’re prepared for it,” Glass said. “We certainly know it will come eventually.”

A St. Louis University spokesman said one student complained of flu-like symptoms last week, but tests came back negative for flu.

However, in an unrelated issue, three SLU students are suspected of having the chickenpox. The school sent out an alert about it last week.

The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday,com/thegrade.