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Flu-related absences up at most area schools |
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Thursday, 17 September 2009 |
Despite rampant rumors around the county that schools may have to close because of a swine flu outbreak, school officials said Wednesday that while the virus is being reported among students, school will continue as scheduled.
Strep throat is also causing an increase in illness throughout half of the districts in the county.
Extra precaution is being taken with regard to the spreading of illnesses, school and health officials told the Courier.
Saline Memorial Hospital has confirmed 20 cases of swine flu between Aug. 1 and Sept. 14, though the ages of these patients was not reported. All flu cases are diagnosed as H1N1 or swine flu until proven otherwise, SMH doctors said.
Dr. Michael Pafford of SMH said H1N1 is the only type of flu he has seen this school year. Seasonal flu typically does not start until October, he said. Pafford expects flu tests given in October to return as a seasonal flu diagnosis, also known as Type B.
Most of the flu patients seen by Pafford have been 25 or younger, he noted. Pafford attributes this pattern to an outbreak of the same virus in 1976.
“Many of the older adults have left-over immunity from the outbreak in 1976. They may have even received an immunization; so that’s why we think it is in the younger patients (and not the older ones),” he said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, any person with flu-like symptoms should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or signs of a fever. The CDC said the patient should stay home even if they are on antiviral drugs.
Most of the schools across the county are seeing an increase in illness-related absences. The Harmony Grove School District in Haskell is the only area to not see a change in absences for this time of year.
“Absences aren’t bad at this point. The absences are nothing above the normal,” Harmony Grove Superintendent Daniel Henley said.
Other school districts are not so lucky.
Glen Rose Superintendent Nathan Gills said their absences are “higher than normal.”
“Our absences are still less than 10 percent of the overall district, but the number of absences is high,” Gills added. Gills said he has also had reports of strep throat in his district, especially in the elementary school.
“There is so much paranoia in the community, people think everything that coughs is swine flu. But that’s not the case. You can still get normal illnesses,” said Pafford at SMH.
In the Benton School District, the absences have been “elevated,” said Dan Jordan, director of personnel and student services for the district. Many of the absences have been in the high school, but Jordan noted that the high school also has more students.
Jordan said earlier this week there were more than 40 reports of flu-related absences in the district, though he said he didn’t think it was the swine flu.
Last week the district experienced its largest absences yet, with nearly 200 students out at the high school, said Superintendent Tony Prothro. But that number decreased by half within just a few days, so the illnesses may or may not have been caused by the swine flu, Prothro said.
The Bryant School District has not been hit by the flu virus like the other districts. Superintendent Dr. Richard Abernathy said they have not seen a “huge number” of absences, but they are seeing more than last year.
“It seems to run in pockets. One class at the elementary school will have a few students out but the rest of the school won’t get it,” he said.
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