H1N1 Spreading Through Omaha public schools

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Source: http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=11023295&nav=menu550_2

H1N1 Spreading Through OPS

Omaha, NE -- With less kids showing up at school, administrators at King Science Center start calling parents. At the end of the day, it's official, six confirmed cases of Swine Flu and counting.

When parents send their kids to school sick, Omaha Public Schools says, it gives the virus an opportunity to spread. The message from OPS to parents, keep you sick kids home.

At King Science Center alone, six students came down with Swine Flu over the weekend and many more might have it.

"It's in the community right now. There are a number of cases throughout the Omaha area," says Sharon Wade, OPS Health Services.

With H1N1 spreading, it's really starting to effect school attendance numbers. At King Science Center, for every hundred students, ten didn't show up for class.

"There have been an increase in absences to what illness we don't know."

It's typical at King Science Center for less than six percent of students to be absent.

Since H1N1 spreads through personal contact, again, OP-S suggests you double check your child's health every morning before sending them off to school.

Because of the growing number of swine flu cases, OP-S says it wants to keep parents informed. So Thursday, 6:30 at the TAC building, Douglas County Health Director Adi Pour will be providing information on Swine Flu and taking your questions. Again that is this Thursday, 6:30 at the TAC building.

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: H1N1 Spreading Through Omaha public schools

Flu absences hit schools
By Michael O'Connor and Michaela Saunders
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERs

Teachers are looking at lots of empty desks as H1N1 flu knocks students out of class.

Labor Day hasn't yet arrived, and already absence counts at some schools are higher than during the peak of the regular winter flu season.

Teachers are postponing quizzes, sending work home and encouraging students to go online to track down notes and assignments.

The absences are coming at a time of the year when teachers are trying to establish classroom rules and routines, and students are adjusting to classmates and developing study habits.


?It really throws a wrench in things for sure when half your class might be gone,? said Pat Hutchings, principal of Westside High School in Omaha.

?You're constantly saying, ?Who got this handout? Who was here yesterday?' You spend much more time trying to coordinate things before you can begin instruction.?

Schools are also keeping an eye on teachers' absences. At least one district, Grand Island, said they have risen as well.

Schools with lots of kids out say that as long as enough teachers are healthy, buildings will stay open, even if the number of absences grows. Federal guidance released over the summer says the drawbacks of closing buildings often outweigh any benefits.

In Grand Island, student illnesses seem to be sweeping from building to building. One elementary school had 20 percent of its students out earlier this week.

Nearly 230 students were out Wednesday at Pius X High School in Lincoln, about 21 percent of the enrollment. A typical number of student absences there in early September is one to two dozen.

Last week, Westside had two days when more than 10 percent of the students were out. Absentee rates have fallen to between 4 and 5 percent, which is still higher than normal.

?We've definitely ridden that wave,? Hutchings said.

Margaret Kaiser-Woodward, a Pius pre-calculus and statistics teacher, said a student can quickly fall behind. She is spending more time before and after school providing extra help to students once they're back.

At St. James/Seton Catholic School in Omaha, teachers have taken more calls at home from parents with questions about their children's homework. The school reported about 10 percent of its kids out on Monday.

Children and young adults have had the highest rates of reported flu cases nationally.

So far, the virus has generally produced mild illnesses similar to the regular seasonal flu. Kids run a fever and have a cough, a sore throat and body aches. Usually a student is out of school for less than a week.

Dr. Kari Simonsen, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said that if the virus continues to spread, it's possible that absences could stay high throughout the school year.

In the Omaha area, the virus is hitting some schools more than others.

Administrators in the Council Bluffs district are tracking absences but so far have not reported an excessive number.

In the Omaha Public Schools, some buildings are seeing absentee rates that are slightly higher than usual.

Nathan Buchholz, an assistant principal at Lewis and Clark Middle School in OPS, said it seems that parents are not keeping students home merely as a precaution ? in other words, the absent kids have symptoms, such as fevers.

Principals in the Grand Island district are being asked to report to the central office if absentee rates reach between 7 percent and 10 percent of students.

In the Elkhorn district, there has been a confirmed case of H1N1 flu in each building, but large numbers of students haven't been gone at one time.

But school districts that haven't had large increases in absences realize that all it takes is one student to start the flu's spread.

?I know that we're maybe one student away from being in similar circumstances,? said Hastings Superintendent Craig Kautz.



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