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Flu symptoms force absenteeism at Jackson Junior High
Thursday, October 15, 2009
By Roger Phelps
A jump in absentees with swine-flu-like symptoms at Jackson Junior High School caused confusion this week around official notification to families.
"We had 102 kids out Monday, 86 Tuesday and 68 Wednesday," said Michele Snider, school administrative assistant. "It was one-third of our students (on Monday)."
Snider said Wednesday she didn't know why Amador County Unified School District had not so far sent home notification of the absences to school families.
Parent Kelly Chisholm of Volcano said, "I would have wanted to know that," when she learned after calling the district about her son's absence that flu symptoms were widespread at the school.
The reason for lack of official notice is that district officials customarily get review of notice language by the county Department of Health before issuing medical notifications, said Patty Knobelauch, district health coordinator.
"It needs to come through the Health Department," Knobelauch said. "What we can say is 'influenza-like symptoms.' We can't say for sure."
Dr. Robert Hartmann, county health officer, said his department's monitoring does not show bumps in swine-flu-like symptoms on any local campus except Jackson Junior High. However, he said that Sutter Amador Hospital's emergency room on Wednesday had seen a rise in admittances with swine-flu-like symptoms.
"It's real preliminary information," Hartmann said.
Some confusion locally could trace to complexities arising in California in recent months around the swine-flu outbreak, Knobelauch said. For example, previously nasal-swab tests were specifically for swine flu, also known as H1N1 virus, and results went to state laboratories, where presence or absence of swine flu was confirmed. Now, nasal-swab tests are for Influenza Type A, where results can give at best a "strong possibility" swine flu is present, Knobelauch said.
Hartmann said the numbers at Jackson Junior High are enough to warrant concern, but that no "hard and fast trigger percentage" of symptom bearers exists that would force a closing of the campus.
"We've been asking schools to put masks (on symptom-bearing students) and get them in a room where nobody else is until parents pick them up," Hartmann said.
During the swine-flu outbreak, increased hand-washing is advocated by health officials, as well as blocking all coughs and sneezes with a sleeve.
http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=261719
Thursday, October 15, 2009
By Roger Phelps
A jump in absentees with swine-flu-like symptoms at Jackson Junior High School caused confusion this week around official notification to families.
"We had 102 kids out Monday, 86 Tuesday and 68 Wednesday," said Michele Snider, school administrative assistant. "It was one-third of our students (on Monday)."
Snider said Wednesday she didn't know why Amador County Unified School District had not so far sent home notification of the absences to school families.
Parent Kelly Chisholm of Volcano said, "I would have wanted to know that," when she learned after calling the district about her son's absence that flu symptoms were widespread at the school.
The reason for lack of official notice is that district officials customarily get review of notice language by the county Department of Health before issuing medical notifications, said Patty Knobelauch, district health coordinator.
"It needs to come through the Health Department," Knobelauch said. "What we can say is 'influenza-like symptoms.' We can't say for sure."
Dr. Robert Hartmann, county health officer, said his department's monitoring does not show bumps in swine-flu-like symptoms on any local campus except Jackson Junior High. However, he said that Sutter Amador Hospital's emergency room on Wednesday had seen a rise in admittances with swine-flu-like symptoms.
"It's real preliminary information," Hartmann said.
Some confusion locally could trace to complexities arising in California in recent months around the swine-flu outbreak, Knobelauch said. For example, previously nasal-swab tests were specifically for swine flu, also known as H1N1 virus, and results went to state laboratories, where presence or absence of swine flu was confirmed. Now, nasal-swab tests are for Influenza Type A, where results can give at best a "strong possibility" swine flu is present, Knobelauch said.
Hartmann said the numbers at Jackson Junior High are enough to warrant concern, but that no "hard and fast trigger percentage" of symptom bearers exists that would force a closing of the campus.
"We've been asking schools to put masks (on symptom-bearing students) and get them in a room where nobody else is until parents pick them up," Hartmann said.
During the swine-flu outbreak, increased hand-washing is advocated by health officials, as well as blocking all coughs and sneezes with a sleeve.
http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=261719