Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
MEMS reports first swine flu cases
Brandon Canevari - Editor
Posted: 10/14/2009 06:38:00 PM EDT
MANCHESTER ? Manchester Elementary Middle School (MEMS) became the first school in the BRSU district to report confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) last week.
In an interview on Tuesday, MEMS principal Jacquelyn Wilson said there have been one or two confirmed cases of the virus.
Signs indicating the virus may be present in the school appeared last week when 45 students were absent on Monday. That number swelled to slightly above 50 students on Tuesday ? the vast majority of which were suspected to be possible swine flu cases, Wilson said.
The number of absentees was a dramatic one, according to Wilson, who said that the week before last the school experienced an average amount of students ? about seven or eight ? who were not in attendance.
Though the virus is present, Wilson said the cases they've seen do not appear to be that severe.
"We're seeing the impact of it here," she said. "[But] at this point it doesn't seem to be any different than a different strain of the flu. Every year as a school, sickness will run through the building and at this point it's no different than that."
"We haven't seen the absenteeism at the other schools that we saw at MEMS last week," said Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union (BRSU) Superintendent Dan French. "The pattern was that the students seemed to be out three to five days and then they were back in school."
The school is following the measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which include students and adults alike staying home when they're sick, sick staff and students being separated from others, people washing their hands regularly with soap and water, school staff routinely cleaning areas commonly touched by staff and students, those at high risk getting treated early and schools being selectively dismissed if the majority of the community is considered to be high risk.
However, both Wilson and French said the measure of dismissing school in relation to the number of students not in attendance was not a consideration at this time.
"Right now our decision making of closing the school is based on whether we have faculty and staff available to run the programs in the school," said French. "The advice we're getting from the State and the Federal government is that closing isn't going to do anything to prevent the spread of the virus."
French said closing the school would not reduce the risk of exposure because the virus is so widespread that the risk is just as great within the community.
http://www.manchesterjournal.com/ci_13561087
Brandon Canevari - Editor
Posted: 10/14/2009 06:38:00 PM EDT
MANCHESTER ? Manchester Elementary Middle School (MEMS) became the first school in the BRSU district to report confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) last week.
In an interview on Tuesday, MEMS principal Jacquelyn Wilson said there have been one or two confirmed cases of the virus.
Signs indicating the virus may be present in the school appeared last week when 45 students were absent on Monday. That number swelled to slightly above 50 students on Tuesday ? the vast majority of which were suspected to be possible swine flu cases, Wilson said.
The number of absentees was a dramatic one, according to Wilson, who said that the week before last the school experienced an average amount of students ? about seven or eight ? who were not in attendance.
Though the virus is present, Wilson said the cases they've seen do not appear to be that severe.
"We're seeing the impact of it here," she said. "[But] at this point it doesn't seem to be any different than a different strain of the flu. Every year as a school, sickness will run through the building and at this point it's no different than that."
"We haven't seen the absenteeism at the other schools that we saw at MEMS last week," said Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union (BRSU) Superintendent Dan French. "The pattern was that the students seemed to be out three to five days and then they were back in school."
The school is following the measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which include students and adults alike staying home when they're sick, sick staff and students being separated from others, people washing their hands regularly with soap and water, school staff routinely cleaning areas commonly touched by staff and students, those at high risk getting treated early and schools being selectively dismissed if the majority of the community is considered to be high risk.
However, both Wilson and French said the measure of dismissing school in relation to the number of students not in attendance was not a consideration at this time.
"Right now our decision making of closing the school is based on whether we have faculty and staff available to run the programs in the school," said French. "The advice we're getting from the State and the Federal government is that closing isn't going to do anything to prevent the spread of the virus."
French said closing the school would not reduce the risk of exposure because the virus is so widespread that the risk is just as great within the community.
http://www.manchesterjournal.com/ci_13561087