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Kalamazoo-area schools, colleges taking steps to keep swine flu in check
by Linda S. Mah | Kalamazoo Gazette
Saturday August 29, 2009, 9:28 PM
KALAMAZOO -- Kalamazoo-area schools and colleges are devising new lesson plans for this fall: how to prepare for a potential outbreak of H1N1 influenza, commonly known as the swine flu.
And at Kalamazoo Public Schools, Portage Public Schools, Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College, the plan includes good hygiene and keeping sick people away from healthy people as much as possible.
"Right now the message we're worried about getting out to parents and children is basic information about the need to wash your hands frequently and to cover your mouth if you sneeze or cough," KPS spokesman Alex Lee said.
That's not a bad message for families, said Dr. Richard Tooker, chief medical officer for Allegan County.
"Vaccination is a secondary line of protection," Tooker said. "The primary line of defense is personal hygiene."
Other basic healthy habits that will help ward off influenza include social distancing, or staying away from people who have symptoms of respiratory infection; getting adequate sleep and eating a healthy diet, Tooker said.
In the spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged schools to dismiss classes if students became ill with H1N1. The CDC has rescinded that blanket recommendation and instead encourages schools to work with local health officials to plan school closures.
For public schools in Kalamazoo County, the process has been eased by a long-standing relationship between Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services and school districts served by the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency.
"We work with the schools on a regular basis," said Linda Vail Buzas, director of the KCHCS. "We deal with outbreaks all the time."
Last spring, the local school districts within the intermediate district served by KRESA met with Buzas to talk about the H1N1 influenza and to develop strategies to deal with the virus, said Ron Fuller, superintendent of KRESA.
Fuller said he is setting up a meeting between Buzas and the county school superintendents so school administrators can be updated on new H1N1 recommendations.
"Things are changing daily," Fuller said.
Representatives for KPS and PPS say they are still formulating H1N1 plans for the start of school. Any school closures would take place only after consultation with KCHCS, both said.
For college students, who often share housing including large dormitories, planning is key.
WMU officials recorded seven cases of swine flu between mid May and mid June. Kalamazoo College had four confirmed cases of the flu in the spring.
At some colleges that have already begun classes elsewhere in the nation, officials have reported dozens and even hundreds of incidents of swine flu and flu-like symptoms in their student populations.
When WMU students re-inhabit residence halls next week in anticipation of classes on Sept. 8, they'll be met with information on avoiding flu and what to do if they become ill.
"We're getting information out to our students and our faculty and our staff so that they know it's a possibility. You don't want to be an alarmist, but you also want people to know there's a very real possibility," said Cheryl Roland, WMU spokeswoman.
"As other schools have opened they are seeing large numbers of cases on their campuses," she said.
Georgia Tech in Atlanta has had 150 suspected cases of the virus in the two weeks since students moved back to campus. Nearly 200 students have reported having flu-like symptoms in the last week or so at the University of Kansas.
"We're watching all of that. Certainly that's how you gauge what to be ready for," Roland said.
WMU officials say their major message to students is to constantly wash hands and to isolate themselves if they become ill -- even if that means missing class just as the semester begins.
"We're asking them to alert the dean of students. If people are ill, we don't want them to come to campus. We want them to let us know why they don't come in on the first day," said Patricia Holton, WMU's director environmental safety and emergency management and chairwoman of the university's Pandemic Flu Planning Committee.
When students return to classes at Kalamazoo College in mid-September, school officials have a flu campaign planned -- signs, masks with messages about the flu hung in places, buttons and a video presentation.
"The big message we're trying to get out is prevention -- wear a mask, stay at home, wash your hands," said Lisa Ailstock, director of student health services at "K."
And if a student does feel sick -- stay home, she said.
"Our goal is to not have sick people here."
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/08/kalamazooarea_schools_colleges.html
by Linda S. Mah | Kalamazoo Gazette
Saturday August 29, 2009, 9:28 PM
KALAMAZOO -- Kalamazoo-area schools and colleges are devising new lesson plans for this fall: how to prepare for a potential outbreak of H1N1 influenza, commonly known as the swine flu.
And at Kalamazoo Public Schools, Portage Public Schools, Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College, the plan includes good hygiene and keeping sick people away from healthy people as much as possible.
"Right now the message we're worried about getting out to parents and children is basic information about the need to wash your hands frequently and to cover your mouth if you sneeze or cough," KPS spokesman Alex Lee said.
That's not a bad message for families, said Dr. Richard Tooker, chief medical officer for Allegan County.
"Vaccination is a secondary line of protection," Tooker said. "The primary line of defense is personal hygiene."
Other basic healthy habits that will help ward off influenza include social distancing, or staying away from people who have symptoms of respiratory infection; getting adequate sleep and eating a healthy diet, Tooker said.
In the spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged schools to dismiss classes if students became ill with H1N1. The CDC has rescinded that blanket recommendation and instead encourages schools to work with local health officials to plan school closures.
For public schools in Kalamazoo County, the process has been eased by a long-standing relationship between Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services and school districts served by the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency.
"We work with the schools on a regular basis," said Linda Vail Buzas, director of the KCHCS. "We deal with outbreaks all the time."
Last spring, the local school districts within the intermediate district served by KRESA met with Buzas to talk about the H1N1 influenza and to develop strategies to deal with the virus, said Ron Fuller, superintendent of KRESA.
Fuller said he is setting up a meeting between Buzas and the county school superintendents so school administrators can be updated on new H1N1 recommendations.
"Things are changing daily," Fuller said.
Representatives for KPS and PPS say they are still formulating H1N1 plans for the start of school. Any school closures would take place only after consultation with KCHCS, both said.
For college students, who often share housing including large dormitories, planning is key.
WMU officials recorded seven cases of swine flu between mid May and mid June. Kalamazoo College had four confirmed cases of the flu in the spring.
At some colleges that have already begun classes elsewhere in the nation, officials have reported dozens and even hundreds of incidents of swine flu and flu-like symptoms in their student populations.
When WMU students re-inhabit residence halls next week in anticipation of classes on Sept. 8, they'll be met with information on avoiding flu and what to do if they become ill.
"We're getting information out to our students and our faculty and our staff so that they know it's a possibility. You don't want to be an alarmist, but you also want people to know there's a very real possibility," said Cheryl Roland, WMU spokeswoman.
"As other schools have opened they are seeing large numbers of cases on their campuses," she said.
Georgia Tech in Atlanta has had 150 suspected cases of the virus in the two weeks since students moved back to campus. Nearly 200 students have reported having flu-like symptoms in the last week or so at the University of Kansas.
"We're watching all of that. Certainly that's how you gauge what to be ready for," Roland said.
WMU officials say their major message to students is to constantly wash hands and to isolate themselves if they become ill -- even if that means missing class just as the semester begins.
"We're asking them to alert the dean of students. If people are ill, we don't want them to come to campus. We want them to let us know why they don't come in on the first day," said Patricia Holton, WMU's director environmental safety and emergency management and chairwoman of the university's Pandemic Flu Planning Committee.
When students return to classes at Kalamazoo College in mid-September, school officials have a flu campaign planned -- signs, masks with messages about the flu hung in places, buttons and a video presentation.
"The big message we're trying to get out is prevention -- wear a mask, stay at home, wash your hands," said Lisa Ailstock, director of student health services at "K."
And if a student does feel sick -- stay home, she said.
"Our goal is to not have sick people here."
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/08/kalamazooarea_schools_colleges.html