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Absences rise at schools
by: Staff Reports
Friday, October 09, 2009
10/9/2009 3:58:05 AM
While cases of the flu appear to have peaked at some area schools, others continue to see absenteeism rates as high as 25 percent ? due at least in part to seasonal or H1N1 flu ? school officials said Thursday.
Tulsa Public Schools has received medical confirmation of 77 students with flu, including some with H1N1, but most with general influenza, said Tami Marler, director of public information for the school district.
Park Elementary School had one of the lowest attendance rates in the district this week, with 79.5 percent on Tuesday.
Principal Anita Schoeder said, "With all of the rain and dampness, the weather has affected our numbers, but it's not all due to illness. We've also had kids at the fair. The district has sent people out to disinfect our building ? doorknobs, handrails ? they have also supplied us with a lot of disinfectant, so I feel pretty good about our school being a safe and healthy environment."
TPS recently obtained three new portable sanitizing and disinfecting systems, called BioSpray, that can be used on all of the surfaces in a classroom in 30 to 40 seconds.
Maintenance workers have been going behind school custodians in the evenings to disinfect classrooms, restrooms and offices.
Though it can't all be attributed to flu, absenteeism is high at Glenpool Middle School. School nurse Jeanette Griffith said about 25 percent of students there are absent.
Meanwhile, at Sand Springs on Thursday, about 100 students at the Limestone Elementary School received swine-flu vaccines administered by the Tulsa City-County Health Department.
Limestone, the smallest of the district's elementary schools, was hit hard by the flu last week, with as many as 82 students absent.
By last Friday, absenteeism at the school peaked at 102 students, though Assistant School Superintendent Lonetta Sprague said many of those absences may have been because of the Tulsa State Fair or homecoming events. Others, she said, may have been kept at home by their families out of fear of catching the flu.
Sprague said absenteeism now at Limestone, along with the rest of the schools, is down to a normal range of 2 to 3 percent.
Limestone, in the Prattville area of Sand Springs, has an enrollment of 284 students.
School officials were unsure why it had such a large outbreak of the flu while other schools were spared.
At nearby Sapulpa, Superintendent Mary Webb there have been only a few confirmed cases of the flu in the school system.
"We're monitoring the situation every day," she said.
Absences in the Union district were up from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, the district's most recent numbers, said spokeswoman Gretchen Haas-Bethel. The district reported absences of 5.2 percent of the student body during that week, up from 4 percent the previous week. Teacher absences were also up, Haas-Bethel said, rising to 5 percent from 3.9 percent the previous week.
In Broken Arrow, absenteeism from illness was fluctuating from school to school, though slightly higher across the board, said spokesman Keith Isbell.
"It's increasing a little at some schools that had higher numbers and decreasing at others," Isbell said. "There seems to be more this week than last week overall."
Isbell said the numbers are not in double digits as far as student population, though, and it's not likely classes will have to be canceled because of the current absentee numbers.
"No question, the flu season has hit much earlier than normal," Isbell said.
Schools are taking preventive measures such as having hand sanitizer in classrooms and sending home information about the flu to parents
Absences in the Claremore school district are running slightly higher, Superintendent Mike McClaren said.
The seasonal flu is largely to blame for the 11 percent absenteeism at the Westside and Claremont elementary schools, the superintendent said. That represents about a 4 percent increase, he said.
At Skiatook Public Schools, the absenteeism rate is at about 10 percent, but only about 4 to 5 percent of that is due to seasonal flu, Superintendent Gary Johnson said.
The symptoms of influenza
If your child becomes ill with flu-like symptoms, don?t send the child to school. Keep him or her home to keep from spreading it to others.
Influenza-like symptoms include fever, coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headaches, body aches, chills and fatigue. Some may also have diarrhea or vomiting, but not all people with flu get a fever.
Children should not return to school until they have been free of fever for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.
If you or your child have a regular case of flu, don?t go to the emergency room. Stay home and rest, drink plenty of fluids and treat the symptoms. Isolate yourself from others, wash hands often and cover coughs to prevent spreading it to others. If you go to the emergency room when you don?t have flu, you may contract it while you are there.
However, if your child has an underlying medical condition such as asthma, diabetes, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and similar conditions, call your health care provider immediately.
In particular, if your child has any of the following emergency warning signs, get immediate medical care:
?Fast breathing or trouble breathing
?Bluish skin color
?Not drinking enough fluids
?Not waking up or not interacting
?Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
?Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
?Fever with a rash
In adults, the emergency warning signs are:
?Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
?Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
?Sudden dizziness
?Confusion
?Severe or persistent vomiting
by: Staff Reports
Friday, October 09, 2009
10/9/2009 3:58:05 AM
While cases of the flu appear to have peaked at some area schools, others continue to see absenteeism rates as high as 25 percent ? due at least in part to seasonal or H1N1 flu ? school officials said Thursday.
Tulsa Public Schools has received medical confirmation of 77 students with flu, including some with H1N1, but most with general influenza, said Tami Marler, director of public information for the school district.
Park Elementary School had one of the lowest attendance rates in the district this week, with 79.5 percent on Tuesday.
Principal Anita Schoeder said, "With all of the rain and dampness, the weather has affected our numbers, but it's not all due to illness. We've also had kids at the fair. The district has sent people out to disinfect our building ? doorknobs, handrails ? they have also supplied us with a lot of disinfectant, so I feel pretty good about our school being a safe and healthy environment."
TPS recently obtained three new portable sanitizing and disinfecting systems, called BioSpray, that can be used on all of the surfaces in a classroom in 30 to 40 seconds.
Maintenance workers have been going behind school custodians in the evenings to disinfect classrooms, restrooms and offices.
Though it can't all be attributed to flu, absenteeism is high at Glenpool Middle School. School nurse Jeanette Griffith said about 25 percent of students there are absent.
Meanwhile, at Sand Springs on Thursday, about 100 students at the Limestone Elementary School received swine-flu vaccines administered by the Tulsa City-County Health Department.
Limestone, the smallest of the district's elementary schools, was hit hard by the flu last week, with as many as 82 students absent.
By last Friday, absenteeism at the school peaked at 102 students, though Assistant School Superintendent Lonetta Sprague said many of those absences may have been because of the Tulsa State Fair or homecoming events. Others, she said, may have been kept at home by their families out of fear of catching the flu.
Sprague said absenteeism now at Limestone, along with the rest of the schools, is down to a normal range of 2 to 3 percent.
Limestone, in the Prattville area of Sand Springs, has an enrollment of 284 students.
School officials were unsure why it had such a large outbreak of the flu while other schools were spared.
At nearby Sapulpa, Superintendent Mary Webb there have been only a few confirmed cases of the flu in the school system.
"We're monitoring the situation every day," she said.
Absences in the Union district were up from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, the district's most recent numbers, said spokeswoman Gretchen Haas-Bethel. The district reported absences of 5.2 percent of the student body during that week, up from 4 percent the previous week. Teacher absences were also up, Haas-Bethel said, rising to 5 percent from 3.9 percent the previous week.
In Broken Arrow, absenteeism from illness was fluctuating from school to school, though slightly higher across the board, said spokesman Keith Isbell.
"It's increasing a little at some schools that had higher numbers and decreasing at others," Isbell said. "There seems to be more this week than last week overall."
Isbell said the numbers are not in double digits as far as student population, though, and it's not likely classes will have to be canceled because of the current absentee numbers.
"No question, the flu season has hit much earlier than normal," Isbell said.
Schools are taking preventive measures such as having hand sanitizer in classrooms and sending home information about the flu to parents
Absences in the Claremore school district are running slightly higher, Superintendent Mike McClaren said.
The seasonal flu is largely to blame for the 11 percent absenteeism at the Westside and Claremont elementary schools, the superintendent said. That represents about a 4 percent increase, he said.
At Skiatook Public Schools, the absenteeism rate is at about 10 percent, but only about 4 to 5 percent of that is due to seasonal flu, Superintendent Gary Johnson said.
The symptoms of influenza
If your child becomes ill with flu-like symptoms, don?t send the child to school. Keep him or her home to keep from spreading it to others.
Influenza-like symptoms include fever, coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headaches, body aches, chills and fatigue. Some may also have diarrhea or vomiting, but not all people with flu get a fever.
Children should not return to school until they have been free of fever for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.
If you or your child have a regular case of flu, don?t go to the emergency room. Stay home and rest, drink plenty of fluids and treat the symptoms. Isolate yourself from others, wash hands often and cover coughs to prevent spreading it to others. If you go to the emergency room when you don?t have flu, you may contract it while you are there.
However, if your child has an underlying medical condition such as asthma, diabetes, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and similar conditions, call your health care provider immediately.
In particular, if your child has any of the following emergency warning signs, get immediate medical care:
?Fast breathing or trouble breathing
?Bluish skin color
?Not drinking enough fluids
?Not waking up or not interacting
?Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
?Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
?Fever with a rash
In adults, the emergency warning signs are:
?Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
?Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
?Sudden dizziness
?Confusion
?Severe or persistent vomiting
