Hundreds Of Students At Gaston Co. School Have Flu-Like Symptoms

[Treyfish]

To contact the reporter, e-mail Ken Lemon.
Posted: 5:59 pm EDT September 3, 2009Updated: 6:28 pm EDT September 3, 2009
<!--startindex-->GASTON COUNTY, N.C. -- More than 300 Gaston County students did not go to school Thursday because of flu-like symptoms.
Forestview High School administrators said dozens of students started showing symptoms Wednesday. County health officials said they believe the students have the H1N1 flu.
On Thursday, 354 students were out. The county health director and the school system were planning to send home a brochure to inform students and teachers about the flu next week, but because of the outbreak they are getting them out as soon as they can.
<HR itxtvisited="1">? VIDEO: Hundreds Of Students At Gaston Co. School Have Flu-Like Symptoms <HR itxtvisited="1">
Student Derek Baker said his doctor told him to stay out of school for a week. His parents were given medicine because of their exposure to him.
?(It?s) scary. Very scary,? said Pat Baker, Derek?s mother.
Her son said many students were coughing and sniffling Tuesday, and the next day 40 students went home sick.
Patricia Carter said her daughter called her Thursday to tell her more classmates were checking out with fevers.
?If that spreads, it?s wide open,? she said.
Several other schools also reported students with flu-like symptoms. Gaston County Schools spokeswoman Bonnie Reidy said students with fevers were moved to isolation rooms until they were picked up.
?(Crews) cleaned all the surfaces. They wiped them down with disinfectants,? she said.
County Health Director Coleen Bridger said the flu comes in waves and she?s not sure if the outbreak has peaked. She said H1N1 is no more dangerous than the traditional flu, but will spread even more.
?Because H1N1 is a new strain, people are going to be less likely to fight it off,? Bridger said. :tiphat:http://www.wsoctv.com/news/20712508/detail.html<!--stopindex-->

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Hundreds Of Students At Gaston Co. School Have Flu-Like Symptoms

Almost one-third of Forestview students absent Friday; swine flu part of the blame

September 04, 2009 5:29 PM

Close to 400 students weren?t in class at Forestview High Friday, said Gaston County Schools spokeswoman Bonnie Reidy.

Of those, nearly 25 students went home with flu-like symptoms Friday, Reidy said.

The absent students mean 31 percent of Forestview?s 1,300 students weren?t in school Friday.

On Thursday 364 students were absent from the school, Reidy said.

Last year, Forestview had an attendance rate of 94.5 percent last year, which calculates to about 1,232 students in school each day.

As of 9:30 a.m., no students had checked out at Hunter Huss High, Reidy said. The day before the school sent five students home with flu-like symptoms.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas R. Frieden said in a media briefing Thursday that H1N1 flu, also known as the swine flu, is spreading in the southeast and never went away.

?The good news is that so far, everything that we've seen, both in this country and abroad, shows that the virus has not changed to become more deadly. That means that although it may affect lots of people, most people will not be severely ill,? Friedman said. ?My kids will get the flu vaccine when it becomes available, and I would recommend that all school children get vaccinated.?


http://www.gastongazette.com/news/students-37594-swine-flu.html

 

[tropical]

Re: Hundreds Of Students At Gaston Co. School Have Flu-Like Symptoms

Bad, bad.

#2: "The absent students mean 31 percent of Forestview’s 1,300 students weren’t in school Friday."


Almost 1/3 of students are ill presumably of an infectious agent,
and the school stil not close.

Perfectly in line with the Snowy's infos about decisions of schools closures only after ICU's overwhelmings,
but not in line with some of the previous decisions of closing schools after a considerable number of pupils are ill.