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Administrators say there are too many H1N1 cases in the schools for parental notification
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
<!--date-->Posted: 11/02/2009 05:23:02 PM PST
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Gene Bickley and his wife Janice Amos are angry.
Their three elementary-school aged children rode the school bus with at least two students who were diagnosed with H1N1 influenza, or swine flu.
And school officials in Victorville didn't tell them.
"They are taking away our fundamental right," said Amos. "Knowledge about the spread of the illness is important to parents who can then decide if sending their children to school is too high a risk.
"My concern is not just for my kids, but for other kids as well."
Joining them in their frustration are neighbors Linda and David Armstrong.
It was two of the Armstrong's three children who were confirmed H1N1 victims.
As parents, the Armstrongs said they feel everyone in their children's school, Lomitas Elementary, should be notified if someone tests positive for H1N1.
"This is life threatening and we need to be aware of it," said Linda Armstrong. "They (children) are in danger and if a virus that kills people has been found in the schools, then we should be told...We trust these schools when we send our children there...it should be open communication," she said.
Jan Gonzales, assistant superintendent of the Victor Elementary School District, which oversees Lomita Elementary School in Victorville, said the district has never had a policy to report flu cases to parents.
She said she was only aware of one confirmed case in the district - and that was in September.
Nevertheless, the district has been thorough in communicating to parents the importance of hand washing, proper coughing and sneezing techniques and flu signs to watch for, Gonzales said.
Armstrong said she notified the school in mid-October that two of her children were positively confirmed with H1N1.
They have since recovered and returned to school.
All three of her children have asthma, a chronic respiratory disease that can make any flu particularly dangerous.
As of Oct. 30, at least 114 children have died from H1N1 flu complications since the spring - up from 95 reported the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
That was the largest one-week increase since the pandemic began in April.
At the Etiwanda School District, a mass letter went out in late October notifying parents that H1N1 flu is likely in all the district's schools, said Charlene Dean, an RN and the district's health service coordinator.
"School districts (in the area) have worked with the (county) health department to keep them informed. But many have elected not to notify parents and get them more scared...In Etiwanda, we like our parents to be in the know," she said.
The Etiwanda district had its first confirmed case in August, two weeks after the school year began.
All parents in the district were notified.
But that probably wouldn't happen now, Dean said. "It's so far along. We can't keep up with it."
At the Chino Valley Unified School District, parents are not notified of H1N1 on a case by case basis. But the district has been aggressive in its communication to parents about precautions, district spokeswoman Julie Gobin, said.
Armstrong, of Victorville, said that if a student in her child's class came down with Tuberculosis, she would have been notified.
But Dr. Sohan Bassi, an infectious disease specialist who is on the staff of Upland's San Antonio Community Hospital, said that part of the problem with a pandemic is there "are so many possible sources of exposure."
If a child has been exposed to TB, there is a test to determine if he or she picked up the bacteria. If the test comes back positive, there is a preventative treatment so the disease won't develop.
If someone has been exposed to the H1N1 in school, they won't necessarily come down with it. But unlike TB, they are also likely to be exposed to it elsewhere, Bassi said.
"If we start a child on Tamiflu because of exposure at school, do we start them on another series when they are exposed again, and another series when they are exposed yet again?" he asked. "This medicine is in short supply."
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_13697554
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
<!--date-->Posted: 11/02/2009 05:23:02 PM PST
<!--secondary date-->
Gene Bickley and his wife Janice Amos are angry.
Their three elementary-school aged children rode the school bus with at least two students who were diagnosed with H1N1 influenza, or swine flu.
And school officials in Victorville didn't tell them.
"They are taking away our fundamental right," said Amos. "Knowledge about the spread of the illness is important to parents who can then decide if sending their children to school is too high a risk.
"My concern is not just for my kids, but for other kids as well."
Joining them in their frustration are neighbors Linda and David Armstrong.
It was two of the Armstrong's three children who were confirmed H1N1 victims.
As parents, the Armstrongs said they feel everyone in their children's school, Lomitas Elementary, should be notified if someone tests positive for H1N1.
"This is life threatening and we need to be aware of it," said Linda Armstrong. "They (children) are in danger and if a virus that kills people has been found in the schools, then we should be told...We trust these schools when we send our children there...it should be open communication," she said.
Jan Gonzales, assistant superintendent of the Victor Elementary School District, which oversees Lomita Elementary School in Victorville, said the district has never had a policy to report flu cases to parents.
She said she was only aware of one confirmed case in the district - and that was in September.
Nevertheless, the district has been thorough in communicating to parents the importance of hand washing, proper coughing and sneezing techniques and flu signs to watch for, Gonzales said.
Armstrong said she notified the school in mid-October that two of her children were positively confirmed with H1N1.
They have since recovered and returned to school.
All three of her children have asthma, a chronic respiratory disease that can make any flu particularly dangerous.
As of Oct. 30, at least 114 children have died from H1N1 flu complications since the spring - up from 95 reported the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
That was the largest one-week increase since the pandemic began in April.
At the Etiwanda School District, a mass letter went out in late October notifying parents that H1N1 flu is likely in all the district's schools, said Charlene Dean, an RN and the district's health service coordinator.
"School districts (in the area) have worked with the (county) health department to keep them informed. But many have elected not to notify parents and get them more scared...In Etiwanda, we like our parents to be in the know," she said.
The Etiwanda district had its first confirmed case in August, two weeks after the school year began.
All parents in the district were notified.
But that probably wouldn't happen now, Dean said. "It's so far along. We can't keep up with it."
At the Chino Valley Unified School District, parents are not notified of H1N1 on a case by case basis. But the district has been aggressive in its communication to parents about precautions, district spokeswoman Julie Gobin, said.
Armstrong, of Victorville, said that if a student in her child's class came down with Tuberculosis, she would have been notified.
But Dr. Sohan Bassi, an infectious disease specialist who is on the staff of Upland's San Antonio Community Hospital, said that part of the problem with a pandemic is there "are so many possible sources of exposure."
If a child has been exposed to TB, there is a test to determine if he or she picked up the bacteria. If the test comes back positive, there is a preventative treatment so the disease won't develop.
If someone has been exposed to the H1N1 in school, they won't necessarily come down with it. But unlike TB, they are also likely to be exposed to it elsewhere, Bassi said.
"If we start a child on Tamiflu because of exposure at school, do we start them on another series when they are exposed again, and another series when they are exposed yet again?" he asked. "This medicine is in short supply."
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_13697554