Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Closing schools a last resort for swine flu
Under a new H1N1 attack plan in the Boston Public Schools this year, symptomatic kids and staff will be masked and quarantined, recovering children could spend less time at home and schools are more likely to stay open.
?We?ve learned a lot more about this particular novel virus,? said John Jacob, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health.
Changes include:
Per the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DPH, school buildings will be closed only as a last resort. Last spring, BPS closed 15 schools because of the swine flu.
Jacob said school closures didn?t have much impact on reducing the spread of the disease, particularly when weighed against the disruption to students and their parents.
?We want to take prudent steps to stop the spread of disease, but we want to encourage schools to stay open,? he said.
Parents will be told to keep flu-infected kids at home until at least 24 hours after a fever has subsided without the use of pain medication - or about four days total.
?The CDC is telling us when the child reaches that point they are no longer infectious,? Jacob said.
Last spring, it was recommended that children stay home for at least seven days after symptoms were gone.
Students and staff who show symptoms while in school will be separated from the rest of the school population and wear surgical masks.
Kids, staff and parents will be educated on cough and sneeze etiquette and the importance of keeping sick children home.
The pandemic is one of the biggest challenges facing Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson this fall, and she said the system has been working with the city and state to make parents aware of the new approach.
?Part of this is just good education,? she said. ?Support has to be in place to ensure families understand what we are doing.?
For questions about the swine flu, visit www.mass.gov/flu or call 211.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1195688
Under a new H1N1 attack plan in the Boston Public Schools this year, symptomatic kids and staff will be masked and quarantined, recovering children could spend less time at home and schools are more likely to stay open.
?We?ve learned a lot more about this particular novel virus,? said John Jacob, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health.
Changes include:
Per the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DPH, school buildings will be closed only as a last resort. Last spring, BPS closed 15 schools because of the swine flu.
Jacob said school closures didn?t have much impact on reducing the spread of the disease, particularly when weighed against the disruption to students and their parents.
?We want to take prudent steps to stop the spread of disease, but we want to encourage schools to stay open,? he said.
Parents will be told to keep flu-infected kids at home until at least 24 hours after a fever has subsided without the use of pain medication - or about four days total.
?The CDC is telling us when the child reaches that point they are no longer infectious,? Jacob said.
Last spring, it was recommended that children stay home for at least seven days after symptoms were gone.
Students and staff who show symptoms while in school will be separated from the rest of the school population and wear surgical masks.
Kids, staff and parents will be educated on cough and sneeze etiquette and the importance of keeping sick children home.
The pandemic is one of the biggest challenges facing Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson this fall, and she said the system has been working with the city and state to make parents aware of the new approach.
?Part of this is just good education,? she said. ?Support has to be in place to ensure families understand what we are doing.?
For questions about the swine flu, visit www.mass.gov/flu or call 211.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1195688