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Hundreds stay home as flu hits B.C. schools
CAROLINE ALPHONSO AND JANE ARMSTRONG
TORONTO and VANCOUVER ? From Thursday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009 10:48AM EDT
One-third of students at a downtown Vancouver elementary school are absent with flu-like symptoms and the pandemic virus strain has been confirmed in pupils at three other British Columbia schools, signalling that the influenza season has arrived weeks before a vaccine is ready.
Public health authorities braced for the start of the school year, worried that classrooms would serve as incubators for the swine flu virus to spread rapidly. Only weeks in, those fears have been realized.
About 100 students at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School in Vancouver didn't show up for class yesterday, either due to illness or because they were afraid of contracting the virus. A student was confirmed to have been infected with H1N1. St. Patrick's Regional Secondary, also in Vancouver, and Shawnigan Lake School, a boarding school on Vancouver Island, also had swine-flu cases.
At Elsie Roy Public Elementary in Vancouver, 113 of 329 pupils were absent, as well as six staff members.
A handful of students have been sick with headaches, stuffy noses and flu-like symptoms at Brentwood College school on Vancouver Island. The H1N1 virus is suspected at both schools, but test results are pending.
All students have mild symptoms, and none have been admitted to hospital. But the pandemic virus has disproportionately affected younger people, unlike seasonal flu that mainly burdens the elderly. And public health officials fear the toll it could take on the young as H1N1 moves from west to east.
"H1N1 was predicted to hit this fall. Now it's beginning to show itself," said Doug Lauson, superintendent of Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese, which includes Notre Dame and St. Patrick's.
"Was it anticipated? Yes, it was. Are we prepared for it? Yes, as best as we can be. Are we going to prevent it from spreading? Well, we're certainly trying to do that."
Schools have been modifying their pandemic plans all summer. Good hygiene has been reinforced as students returned and officials in many districts have asked parents to keep their children at home if they appear to have flu symptoms, which include a cough, fever, headache, sore throat and muscle aches.
While serious illness has been rare, the virus spreads rapidly in the young. Doctors believe that young people have been particularly hard-hit because the H1N1 virus resembles a strain of flu that circulated before 1957, to which older people have been exposed.
The fact that the virus has started to surface and gain strength so early in the fall is not good news. A vaccine likely won't be rolled out until mid-November, although federal officials have indicated it could be pushed forward if the swine flu virus quickly turns more severe. The United States will start its H1N1 vaccine campaign early next month.
Perry Kendall, British Columbia's provincial health officer, said it's not ideal that a vaccine isn't ready in Canada, especially as public health authorities have been predicting a fall resurgence. But he added that the southern hemisphere went through its flu season without an H1N1 vaccine.
"They coped. They managed. We will, too," Dr. Kendall said.
Outside Elsie Roy school yesterday, parents were concerned, but not overly panicked about the high number of stricken school children.
Themis Velgis, the father of an eight-year-old girl and six-year-old boy, said children at the school have been falling ill since school began. Many parents suspect it's H1N1 and most believe it's inevitable that the virus will sweep through all the schools.
Mr. Velgis said both his children were sick last weekend with chills, fever and diarrhea. They recovered by Monday and were back in school.
If it is H1N1, some parents said it's better the school be hit now so that kids will become immune.
However, Andrea Steiner arrived at the school before the 3 p.m. bell to fetch her daughter Rafaela, 10. Ms. Steiner said she was taking the girl out of school until next Monday "just to be on the safe side."
"I heard the news this morning," Ms. Steiner said. "We just don't know what it is. One of her classmates has a fever. So we're going home for a while, okay?"
David Robertson, headmaster at Shawnigan Lake School, said the key is for parents not to panic. Last Friday, 85 out of more than 400 students had flu-like symptoms at the school. One student was confirmed to have H1N1, which generally means that others have the same virus. Most are feeling better, but there are still sick pupils at the school, including two who had fevers yesterday.
"What I've learned about this is that this is a particularly adept virus at spreading. Separating those who are clearly demonstrating symptoms is very important," Mr. Robertson said. "If a school is handling it properly and actually sending home kids that turn up exhibiting symptoms, then I would say 'Carry on, send [your children] to school.' "
CAROLINE ALPHONSO AND JANE ARMSTRONG
TORONTO and VANCOUVER ? From Thursday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009 10:48AM EDT
One-third of students at a downtown Vancouver elementary school are absent with flu-like symptoms and the pandemic virus strain has been confirmed in pupils at three other British Columbia schools, signalling that the influenza season has arrived weeks before a vaccine is ready.
Public health authorities braced for the start of the school year, worried that classrooms would serve as incubators for the swine flu virus to spread rapidly. Only weeks in, those fears have been realized.
About 100 students at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School in Vancouver didn't show up for class yesterday, either due to illness or because they were afraid of contracting the virus. A student was confirmed to have been infected with H1N1. St. Patrick's Regional Secondary, also in Vancouver, and Shawnigan Lake School, a boarding school on Vancouver Island, also had swine-flu cases.
At Elsie Roy Public Elementary in Vancouver, 113 of 329 pupils were absent, as well as six staff members.
A handful of students have been sick with headaches, stuffy noses and flu-like symptoms at Brentwood College school on Vancouver Island. The H1N1 virus is suspected at both schools, but test results are pending.
All students have mild symptoms, and none have been admitted to hospital. But the pandemic virus has disproportionately affected younger people, unlike seasonal flu that mainly burdens the elderly. And public health officials fear the toll it could take on the young as H1N1 moves from west to east.
"H1N1 was predicted to hit this fall. Now it's beginning to show itself," said Doug Lauson, superintendent of Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese, which includes Notre Dame and St. Patrick's.
"Was it anticipated? Yes, it was. Are we prepared for it? Yes, as best as we can be. Are we going to prevent it from spreading? Well, we're certainly trying to do that."
Schools have been modifying their pandemic plans all summer. Good hygiene has been reinforced as students returned and officials in many districts have asked parents to keep their children at home if they appear to have flu symptoms, which include a cough, fever, headache, sore throat and muscle aches.
While serious illness has been rare, the virus spreads rapidly in the young. Doctors believe that young people have been particularly hard-hit because the H1N1 virus resembles a strain of flu that circulated before 1957, to which older people have been exposed.
The fact that the virus has started to surface and gain strength so early in the fall is not good news. A vaccine likely won't be rolled out until mid-November, although federal officials have indicated it could be pushed forward if the swine flu virus quickly turns more severe. The United States will start its H1N1 vaccine campaign early next month.
Perry Kendall, British Columbia's provincial health officer, said it's not ideal that a vaccine isn't ready in Canada, especially as public health authorities have been predicting a fall resurgence. But he added that the southern hemisphere went through its flu season without an H1N1 vaccine.
"They coped. They managed. We will, too," Dr. Kendall said.
Outside Elsie Roy school yesterday, parents were concerned, but not overly panicked about the high number of stricken school children.
Themis Velgis, the father of an eight-year-old girl and six-year-old boy, said children at the school have been falling ill since school began. Many parents suspect it's H1N1 and most believe it's inevitable that the virus will sweep through all the schools.
Mr. Velgis said both his children were sick last weekend with chills, fever and diarrhea. They recovered by Monday and were back in school.
If it is H1N1, some parents said it's better the school be hit now so that kids will become immune.
However, Andrea Steiner arrived at the school before the 3 p.m. bell to fetch her daughter Rafaela, 10. Ms. Steiner said she was taking the girl out of school until next Monday "just to be on the safe side."
"I heard the news this morning," Ms. Steiner said. "We just don't know what it is. One of her classmates has a fever. So we're going home for a while, okay?"
David Robertson, headmaster at Shawnigan Lake School, said the key is for parents not to panic. Last Friday, 85 out of more than 400 students had flu-like symptoms at the school. One student was confirmed to have H1N1, which generally means that others have the same virus. Most are feeling better, but there are still sick pupils at the school, including two who had fevers yesterday.
"What I've learned about this is that this is a particularly adept virus at spreading. Separating those who are clearly demonstrating symptoms is very important," Mr. Robertson said. "If a school is handling it properly and actually sending home kids that turn up exhibiting symptoms, then I would say 'Carry on, send [your children] to school.' "