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School district ?ups? flu precautions
Multiple students from Musselman High School ill
By Erienne Greene, Journal Staff Writer POSTED: October 8, 2009
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MARTINSBURG - The Berkeley County School District is continuing to work in conjunction with the local health department to ensure that the number of area students who become ill with the H1N1 virus doesn't continue to spike.
Berkeley County School Superintendent Manny Arvon said there simply isn't a way to tell someone the exact number of student cases of the virus, also called swine flu, unless the health department is collecting the information from each of the parents.
"The hot spot, and also where several students were sent home from today, is Musselman High School," said George Michael, director of pupil services for the school system, on Wednesday. "In the last couple of days, the number of sick kids there has elevated to 30 plus."
Michael said the school district isn't keeping track of each individual case of swine flu within the schools simply because it would be "nearly impossible" to do so.
"The only way we would know (the number) is if each parent would call back to report that their child has swine flu," he said.
He said "sporadic" cases of the flu - an average of one or two a day - are being reported in most schools throughout the county.
Michael added that increased janitorial services have been implemented within schools to try and lessen the spreading of contagious fomites, or viruses, on the public surfaces that students and staff members come in contact with daily.
However, Musselman Middle School is not experiencing a high rate of students ill with flu-like symptoms, despite its close proximity to the high school.
"The middle school is not running at a parallel status with the high school," he said.
Michael said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer testing flu patients specifically for H1N1, as the agency did in the springtime, but officials are going forward with treating it with common antivirals such as Tamiflu, a medicine used for both the prevention and treatment of influenza.
Arvon said that within the school system, one nurse is assigned to two different schools.
The standard procedure for dealing with students who experience flu-like symptoms while in school is to contact the parent/guardian to arrange for the student to be picked up.
Parents also will be given a notice by the school that lists tips for caring for the student while he or she recovers at home.
"The CDC has raised the level for everyone to stay out of work and school for a minimum of seven days if they are ill," Michael said. "Parents can expect to be notified immediately, and we advise them to keep the student out of school for at least a week, and 24 hours after all their symptoms are gone without any medication."
Michael stated that the CDC also reports West Virginia is the only state among five neighboring ones that is not at an elevated level.
"But I think that will change within the next week or two. I think the whole state will get a lot worse seeing that Maryland and Virginia are both widespread states. This is only the tip of what's to come," he said.
Arvon noted that while the number of students ill this week alone has caused some concern among parents, he said it is not unusual for 10 percent of students to be absent from a school on any given day.
"Overall, there has been no spike in the absenteeism lately, other than at Musselman High," he said, advising parents, students and the community that remaining calm is necessary as health care workers are doing the best they can.
"We will continue to post things on our Web site (www.berkeleycountyschools.org) like the simple things to practice when trying to prevent spreading (the virus) - all very basic things," Arvon said. "We have extra custodial staff, and will continue to use sprays in the schools and buses."
A principals' meeting also will be held this morning at the regional board office to discuss further modes of prevention that schools can take, including when and what to order as extra supplies, such as hand sanitizers, face masks, sanitary wipes, etc.
"There's a lot of preparedness in dealing with this issue. We've been working very closely with George to monitor what has been going on. ... These types of meetings have been going on for several months (for H1N1)," Arvon said. "These meetings also take us back to over a year ago, when we were dealing with MRSA and learning how to disinfect our learning environments."
Jaimee Borger, the director of media services within the district, added to Arvon's statement regarding school preparation by saying that two letters went home to parents when swine flu became a public issue in the spring; one letter was sent home at the beginning of this school year; and it also has been discussed in the classrooms, at school orientation and at Parent Teacher Association meetings.
"We've taken every opportunity we have to inform everyone about this, and will continue to try and keep everyone up-to-date with what's going on," she said.
Dr. Diana Graviria, medical director of the Berkeley County Health Department, explained that most cases of the illness can be taken care of at home and will not need medical treatment - although parents should look for further warnings signs in children. These signs include trouble breathing, bluish or gray skin color, severe or excessive vomiting and whether flu-like symptoms improve but then quickly return with a fever and a more severe cough.
Up-to-date information about the flu is available by going to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/.
- Staff writer Erienne Greene can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 183, or egreene@journal-news.net
http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/526182.html
Multiple students from Musselman High School ill
By Erienne Greene, Journal Staff Writer POSTED: October 8, 2009
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MARTINSBURG - The Berkeley County School District is continuing to work in conjunction with the local health department to ensure that the number of area students who become ill with the H1N1 virus doesn't continue to spike.
Berkeley County School Superintendent Manny Arvon said there simply isn't a way to tell someone the exact number of student cases of the virus, also called swine flu, unless the health department is collecting the information from each of the parents.
"The hot spot, and also where several students were sent home from today, is Musselman High School," said George Michael, director of pupil services for the school system, on Wednesday. "In the last couple of days, the number of sick kids there has elevated to 30 plus."
Michael said the school district isn't keeping track of each individual case of swine flu within the schools simply because it would be "nearly impossible" to do so.
"The only way we would know (the number) is if each parent would call back to report that their child has swine flu," he said.
He said "sporadic" cases of the flu - an average of one or two a day - are being reported in most schools throughout the county.
Michael added that increased janitorial services have been implemented within schools to try and lessen the spreading of contagious fomites, or viruses, on the public surfaces that students and staff members come in contact with daily.
However, Musselman Middle School is not experiencing a high rate of students ill with flu-like symptoms, despite its close proximity to the high school.
"The middle school is not running at a parallel status with the high school," he said.
Michael said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer testing flu patients specifically for H1N1, as the agency did in the springtime, but officials are going forward with treating it with common antivirals such as Tamiflu, a medicine used for both the prevention and treatment of influenza.
Arvon said that within the school system, one nurse is assigned to two different schools.
The standard procedure for dealing with students who experience flu-like symptoms while in school is to contact the parent/guardian to arrange for the student to be picked up.
Parents also will be given a notice by the school that lists tips for caring for the student while he or she recovers at home.
"The CDC has raised the level for everyone to stay out of work and school for a minimum of seven days if they are ill," Michael said. "Parents can expect to be notified immediately, and we advise them to keep the student out of school for at least a week, and 24 hours after all their symptoms are gone without any medication."
Michael stated that the CDC also reports West Virginia is the only state among five neighboring ones that is not at an elevated level.
"But I think that will change within the next week or two. I think the whole state will get a lot worse seeing that Maryland and Virginia are both widespread states. This is only the tip of what's to come," he said.
Arvon noted that while the number of students ill this week alone has caused some concern among parents, he said it is not unusual for 10 percent of students to be absent from a school on any given day.
"Overall, there has been no spike in the absenteeism lately, other than at Musselman High," he said, advising parents, students and the community that remaining calm is necessary as health care workers are doing the best they can.
"We will continue to post things on our Web site (www.berkeleycountyschools.org) like the simple things to practice when trying to prevent spreading (the virus) - all very basic things," Arvon said. "We have extra custodial staff, and will continue to use sprays in the schools and buses."
A principals' meeting also will be held this morning at the regional board office to discuss further modes of prevention that schools can take, including when and what to order as extra supplies, such as hand sanitizers, face masks, sanitary wipes, etc.
"There's a lot of preparedness in dealing with this issue. We've been working very closely with George to monitor what has been going on. ... These types of meetings have been going on for several months (for H1N1)," Arvon said. "These meetings also take us back to over a year ago, when we were dealing with MRSA and learning how to disinfect our learning environments."
Jaimee Borger, the director of media services within the district, added to Arvon's statement regarding school preparation by saying that two letters went home to parents when swine flu became a public issue in the spring; one letter was sent home at the beginning of this school year; and it also has been discussed in the classrooms, at school orientation and at Parent Teacher Association meetings.
"We've taken every opportunity we have to inform everyone about this, and will continue to try and keep everyone up-to-date with what's going on," she said.
Dr. Diana Graviria, medical director of the Berkeley County Health Department, explained that most cases of the illness can be taken care of at home and will not need medical treatment - although parents should look for further warnings signs in children. These signs include trouble breathing, bluish or gray skin color, severe or excessive vomiting and whether flu-like symptoms improve but then quickly return with a fever and a more severe cough.
Up-to-date information about the flu is available by going to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/.
- Staff writer Erienne Greene can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 183, or egreene@journal-news.net
http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/526182.html