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H1N1 hits schools!
Written By: Kayra WilliamsonSep 21st, 2009
At an impromptu emergency press conference held late August, director of health promotion in the ministry of health, Cyprian Yarde said September 2 would mark the first time in 44 years that students would return to school amid a global pandemic.
At that conference, Yarde urged parents to remain alert, and other speakers, including chief education officer Augusta Ifill assured the nation that all schools would be thoroughly sanitized before opening their doors to students.
?Parents need to be vigilant and alert but not panicked,? said Dr Jacqueline Bird who was also a speaker at the conference. ?I think its very important for everybody not to panic, there has always been and will always be influenza of some type in the community. Remember the flu season is from November to March and there will be ordinary flu at the same time when there is the H1N1 flu.?
Those who thought it was a matter of time before H1N1 hit St Lucia school were correct. The swine flu influx has begun, with at least one school, Corinth Secondary in the forefront.
The ministry of health confirmed on Tuesday that the Corinth Secondary would be closed until further notice. There were reports of an H1N1 outbreak at the school, in particular, reports that several students in a form two classroom showed signs of the ailment formerly known as Swine Flu.
Another press conference was called on Thursday, September 17 and at that meeting health officials confirmed that within two days approximately 70 students and seven teachers at the Corinth Secondary School had developed suspicious flu like symptoms.
Chief medical officer (CMO), Josiah Rambally said the decision was made on September 15 to suspend activities at the Corinth Secondary School due to the extent of flu like illness there. Rambally said most of the affected students belonged to classes that were housed in a particular section of the school. The CMO said there were no reports of severe illness among students.
?The ministry of health assessed the affected individuals and instituted treatment and advice according to the clinical protocols,? said Rambally. ?IFA, which is Immunofluorescence assay, done at Victoria Hospital (VH) were positive for influenza A but H1N1 cannot be confirmed until test results and released from CAREC.?
The chief medical officer said health officials were also investigating outbreaks of flu like illness at other schools, particularly in the city, and northern parts of the island.
?There is no plan at present to close other schools,? said Rambally. ?We will assess each case individually. We have redeployed staff to form two rapid response teams that will compliment our local outbreak investigation teams that are present in each health region.?
Rapid response teams were responsible for assessing students, checking their temperatures, and in some cases, taking throat swabs to send to the relevant laboratories for investigation. After assessment by the Team, students were treated and sent home if necessary.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health experts had earlier warned of a second wave of flu like illness in the Fall. Senior health officer Merlene Frederick noted that in addition to that prediction, the flu season was open and presently, one had to be concerned about both the normal flu and the H1N1 virus.
?Persons wouldn?t necessarily know whether they?re suffering from seasonal influenza or H1N1 they look basically the same,? Frederick added. ?As per CDC guidelines, Tamiflu will be reserved for more severe cases; if persons have to be hospitalized, or if persons are at high risk for developing complications because of underlying conditions like diabetics, sickle cell disease, heart disease and other such instances.?
In light of recommendations from the WHO, the senior health officer said the ministry of health was moving away from H1N1 case counting and would be focusing more on ?clusters.?
?If there is a group of people with illness in close proximity too each other, we?re reporting on that,? Frederick explained.
When Chief Education Officer spoke Ifill said there was an issue at schools with parents who sent their children to school whether they were ill or not.
?Parents keep sending them to school with high fever, running nose and as such, a case like the Corinth would occur where you would have a cluster of children,? she said. ?We have to await directive from the ministry of health in terms of which schools have to be closed and at what time.?
Health officials at the press conference said the closure of one school did not automatically warrant for other schools to be shut down. Frederick said schools would be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
?Some schools are doing pretty well. There are some schools with 700, close to 1000 students with less than 10 children showing signs, or being absent from classes at any time and they?re managing well,? she said. ?Infection control is the most important thing; it sounds simple but covering your cough and washing your hands frequently works. We have no evidence that we need to take such drastic measures for any other school at this point in time.?
Students at the Corinth Secondary School are expected to return to school on Monday.
Written By: Kayra WilliamsonSep 21st, 2009
At an impromptu emergency press conference held late August, director of health promotion in the ministry of health, Cyprian Yarde said September 2 would mark the first time in 44 years that students would return to school amid a global pandemic.
At that conference, Yarde urged parents to remain alert, and other speakers, including chief education officer Augusta Ifill assured the nation that all schools would be thoroughly sanitized before opening their doors to students.
?Parents need to be vigilant and alert but not panicked,? said Dr Jacqueline Bird who was also a speaker at the conference. ?I think its very important for everybody not to panic, there has always been and will always be influenza of some type in the community. Remember the flu season is from November to March and there will be ordinary flu at the same time when there is the H1N1 flu.?
Those who thought it was a matter of time before H1N1 hit St Lucia school were correct. The swine flu influx has begun, with at least one school, Corinth Secondary in the forefront.
The ministry of health confirmed on Tuesday that the Corinth Secondary would be closed until further notice. There were reports of an H1N1 outbreak at the school, in particular, reports that several students in a form two classroom showed signs of the ailment formerly known as Swine Flu.
Another press conference was called on Thursday, September 17 and at that meeting health officials confirmed that within two days approximately 70 students and seven teachers at the Corinth Secondary School had developed suspicious flu like symptoms.
Chief medical officer (CMO), Josiah Rambally said the decision was made on September 15 to suspend activities at the Corinth Secondary School due to the extent of flu like illness there. Rambally said most of the affected students belonged to classes that were housed in a particular section of the school. The CMO said there were no reports of severe illness among students.
?The ministry of health assessed the affected individuals and instituted treatment and advice according to the clinical protocols,? said Rambally. ?IFA, which is Immunofluorescence assay, done at Victoria Hospital (VH) were positive for influenza A but H1N1 cannot be confirmed until test results and released from CAREC.?
The chief medical officer said health officials were also investigating outbreaks of flu like illness at other schools, particularly in the city, and northern parts of the island.
?There is no plan at present to close other schools,? said Rambally. ?We will assess each case individually. We have redeployed staff to form two rapid response teams that will compliment our local outbreak investigation teams that are present in each health region.?
Rapid response teams were responsible for assessing students, checking their temperatures, and in some cases, taking throat swabs to send to the relevant laboratories for investigation. After assessment by the Team, students were treated and sent home if necessary.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health experts had earlier warned of a second wave of flu like illness in the Fall. Senior health officer Merlene Frederick noted that in addition to that prediction, the flu season was open and presently, one had to be concerned about both the normal flu and the H1N1 virus.
?Persons wouldn?t necessarily know whether they?re suffering from seasonal influenza or H1N1 they look basically the same,? Frederick added. ?As per CDC guidelines, Tamiflu will be reserved for more severe cases; if persons have to be hospitalized, or if persons are at high risk for developing complications because of underlying conditions like diabetics, sickle cell disease, heart disease and other such instances.?
In light of recommendations from the WHO, the senior health officer said the ministry of health was moving away from H1N1 case counting and would be focusing more on ?clusters.?
?If there is a group of people with illness in close proximity too each other, we?re reporting on that,? Frederick explained.
When Chief Education Officer spoke Ifill said there was an issue at schools with parents who sent their children to school whether they were ill or not.
?Parents keep sending them to school with high fever, running nose and as such, a case like the Corinth would occur where you would have a cluster of children,? she said. ?We have to await directive from the ministry of health in terms of which schools have to be closed and at what time.?
Health officials at the press conference said the closure of one school did not automatically warrant for other schools to be shut down. Frederick said schools would be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
?Some schools are doing pretty well. There are some schools with 700, close to 1000 students with less than 10 children showing signs, or being absent from classes at any time and they?re managing well,? she said. ?Infection control is the most important thing; it sounds simple but covering your cough and washing your hands frequently works. We have no evidence that we need to take such drastic measures for any other school at this point in time.?
Students at the Corinth Secondary School are expected to return to school on Monday.
