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Students staying home in droves with flu-like symptoms
One in five high schoolers afflicted; officials aren't sure whether flu's to blame.
By Mary Ann Roser
AMERICAN-STATESMAN CORRESPONDENT
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
One of every five students at Taylor High School in Williamson County has been hit by flu or a flu-like illness, school officials said, prompting the district to send a letter to parents Monday asking that ill kids be kept home.
"If your child has any of the typical cold and flu symptoms, please be on the safe side and keep them home for now," says the letter from the superintendent's office. "We are attempting to slow the spread as much as possible."
On Monday, 168 kids called in sick in the Taylor district, almost all of them Taylor High School students reporting similar complaints ? "fever, chills, body aches, flu-like symptoms," said Sally Naivar, nurse coordinator for the district. Tests have not been conducted to confirm that the students have flu, but Naivar said the cases were being reported as "flu-like illness." Other flu symptoms include sniffles, a headache, cough and scratchy throat.
Monday's absences came after 198 pupils in the 3,000-student district called in sick Friday; 114 were out on Thursday, district spokesman Larry Robbins said. Almost all of the sick students were at the high school, with a few at the three elementary schools and the middle school, Naivar said.
The absences represent a "15 percent to 18 percent drop in students, plus 16 teachers," Robbins said. "It's very significant."
The onset is fast, too. Children were developing fevers at school and spreading the sickness, Robbins said.
Flu season, which peaks in January and February in Texas, has been light so far.
Jennifer Jackson, director of nursing for the Williamson County and Cities Health District, said she did not know of any significant reports of flu elsewhere in the county. Testing would be needed to confirm flu in Taylor, she said.
An Austin school district spokeswoman said she had not heard of higher-than-normal absences in the district. And Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said she was not aware of any flu-induced school closures.
Doctors are concerned because one of the key flu strains this season is resistant to oseltamivir (marketed as Tamiflu), a prescription anti-viral drug, said Dr. Pat Crocker, chief of emergency medicine at Dell Children's Medical Center.
Anti-viral drugs can shorten flu by a day and a half, but Tamiflu should be started within 24 to 48 hours of onset to be worth the expense or potential side effects, Crocker said.
The best weapons, he said, are hand washing and a flu shot.
maroser@statesman.com; 445-3619
One in five high schoolers afflicted; officials aren't sure whether flu's to blame.
By Mary Ann Roser
AMERICAN-STATESMAN CORRESPONDENT
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
One of every five students at Taylor High School in Williamson County has been hit by flu or a flu-like illness, school officials said, prompting the district to send a letter to parents Monday asking that ill kids be kept home.
"If your child has any of the typical cold and flu symptoms, please be on the safe side and keep them home for now," says the letter from the superintendent's office. "We are attempting to slow the spread as much as possible."
On Monday, 168 kids called in sick in the Taylor district, almost all of them Taylor High School students reporting similar complaints ? "fever, chills, body aches, flu-like symptoms," said Sally Naivar, nurse coordinator for the district. Tests have not been conducted to confirm that the students have flu, but Naivar said the cases were being reported as "flu-like illness." Other flu symptoms include sniffles, a headache, cough and scratchy throat.
Monday's absences came after 198 pupils in the 3,000-student district called in sick Friday; 114 were out on Thursday, district spokesman Larry Robbins said. Almost all of the sick students were at the high school, with a few at the three elementary schools and the middle school, Naivar said.
The absences represent a "15 percent to 18 percent drop in students, plus 16 teachers," Robbins said. "It's very significant."
The onset is fast, too. Children were developing fevers at school and spreading the sickness, Robbins said.
Flu season, which peaks in January and February in Texas, has been light so far.
Jennifer Jackson, director of nursing for the Williamson County and Cities Health District, said she did not know of any significant reports of flu elsewhere in the county. Testing would be needed to confirm flu in Taylor, she said.
An Austin school district spokeswoman said she had not heard of higher-than-normal absences in the district. And Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said she was not aware of any flu-induced school closures.
Doctors are concerned because one of the key flu strains this season is resistant to oseltamivir (marketed as Tamiflu), a prescription anti-viral drug, said Dr. Pat Crocker, chief of emergency medicine at Dell Children's Medical Center.
Anti-viral drugs can shorten flu by a day and a half, but Tamiflu should be started within 24 to 48 hours of onset to be worth the expense or potential side effects, Crocker said.
The best weapons, he said, are hand washing and a flu shot.
maroser@statesman.com; 445-3619
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