Hello from the Health Office
We continue to see a few new cases of flu. However, we are happy to note that the numbers of ill students on our daily attendance list has dropped, suggesting that we could be over the worse of the outbreak. As of Wednesday, February 14th, we have had a total of 25 confirmed cases of Influenza since January 23rd, most of which have resolved.
We continue to follow the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for schools. They advise that students may return to school after the student is fever free without medications for at least 24 hours. It is also important that in addition to being fever free, that the student have enough energy to participate in a full school day's activities.
To help control contagion, we continue to monitor illness trends, and we educate about and practice the CDC's guidance for lowering the chances of spread. We acknowledge that flu is very contagious for a day or so before the onset of symptoms and sometimes, to a lesser degree, after the CDC prescribed return guidelines, complicating the issue.
If your child has a fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea, it is important to contact your provider for guidance. Our school physician and other community doctors are reporting that they are diagnosing some flu cases in which there aren't fevers, but the other symptoms listed are present.
Ways to help prevent the spread of influenza include:
- Receiving the Flu vaccine.
- Handwashing.
- Using hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
- Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or upper sleeve.
- Encouraging your children to keep their hands away from their faces.
- Keeping your children home if you suspect flu symptoms and not returning them until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours.
- Routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces. Flu viruses are fragile and will succumb to routine detergent cleaning.
