Qu?bec School boards will decided if Schools must be close

[WTB]

Province says swine flu prevention is key

Updated: Wed Aug. 19 2009 7:07:40 PM

ctvmontreal.ca

Quebec's public health department is reassuring parents about sending their children to school amid a potential second wave of the swine flu.

Health officials say rather than close schools, which would simply transfer the problem into the community, children should attend school as long as they don't have any flu-like symptoms.

In school, they'll receive the most education about preventing the illness, said Quebec Director of Public Heath Prevention, Horatio Arruda.

"The benefits of keeping people at school - giving them education and also not being elsewhere, and in daycare centres - is higher than if we stop," said Arruda.

Meanwhile, the province says it could be a while before an H1N1 vaccine arrives in the province.

"We think the first dose will come in November, and (it will take) around four weeks to six weeks to get all we need in Canada, including Quebec," said Arruda.

Health officials are still discussing a policy concerning pregnant women, including teachers, but an existing program called Maternity without Danger would allow preventive leave on a case-by-case basis.


http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090819/mtl_swine_090819/20090819/?hub=MontrealHome
Pour une rentr?e scolaire normale

Mise ? jour le mercredi 19 ao?t 2009 ? 23 h 30
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/National/2009/08/19/002-Grippe-rentree-mesures.shtml

Les autorit?s sanitaires canadiennes et qu?b?coises souhaitent que la rentr?e scolaire se d?roule normalement.

C'est le message qu'elles ont lanc? mercredi en faisant le point sur la situation de la grippe A (H1N1) alors que le d?but des classes approche.

Selon les autorit?s, les mesures d?j? en place sont suffisantes pour l'instant et il n'y a pas lieu de fermer de fa?on pr?ventive les ?tablissements scolaires ou les services de garde.

Les autorit?s disent toutefois qu'elles pourraient revoir leurs recommandations si la propagation du virus changeait.

Concernant le retrait pr?ventif des enseignantes enceintes, Qu?bec dit attendre sous peu un avis de l'Institut national de sant? publique du Qu?bec sur la question.

Au Qu?bec, le ministre de la Sant? Yves Bolduc a soulign? que la propagation du virus est moins s?v?re que pr?vu et que rien n'indique qu'il y a une recrudescence du nombre de cas dans la province.

La ministre de la Sant? du Canada, Leona Aglukkaq, a elle aussi soulign? que les cas ? la grandeur du pays ?taient ? mod?r?s ?. Ottawa a tout de m?me mis en ligne un document pour guider les ?coles, les garderies et ?tablissements postsecondaires advenant une seconde vague de grippe qui pourrait survenir cet automne.

Les responsables canadiens et qu?b?cois rappellent que les mesures d'hygi?ne de base peuvent ?tre efficace pour lutter contre la propagation du virus comme se laver souvent les mains avec de l'eau et du savon ou avec un rince-mains antiseptique ? base d'alcool et tousser ou ?ternuer dans le pli du coude ou le haut de l'?paule plut?t que dans ses mains.

Ils demandent aussi aux gens qui sont atteints par le virus de rester chez eux. Ils recommandent ?galement aux gens ? risques comme les jeunes enfant, les personnes ?g?es et les femmes enceintes de consulter un m?decin s'ils ressentent des sympt?mes du virus.

Au Canada, on recense jusqu'? maintenant 67 d?c?s li?s ? la grippe A (H1N1). Le Qu?bec est la province la plus touch?e, avec 24 morts.

Les commissions scolaires rassur?es

La F?d?ration des commissions scolaires du Qu?bec a indiqu? ?tre rassur?e par le message lanc? par Qu?bec et par le fait que la propagation du virus est moins importante que ce qu'on croyait et qu'il n'y ait pas d'?closion ? l'heure actuelle. Elle assure toutefois ?tre pr?te en cas d'?closion massive du virus ? l'automne.

 

[WTB]

Re: No closing school

Re: No closing school

Closing schools for a few swine flu cases little help
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | 10:03 PM ET Comments34Recommend15
CBC News
A handful of students were infected with swine flu at King's-Edgehill School in Windsor, N.S., in April. The school cancelled off-campus sports and field trips, but classes continued as normal.A handful of students were infected with swine flu at King's-Edgehill School in Windsor, N.S., in April. The school cancelled off-campus sports and field trips, but classes continued as normal. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

There's no point in closing schools in the fall unless the severity of swine flu cases increases, federal health officials said Wednesday.

It makes sense for local officials to close schools when there aren't enough teachers coming to work or many students are sick.

But closing schools in other circumstances could make things worse. For example, if a secondary school has a few cases of students home sick with the H1N1 virus, closing schools would move teens from a controlled atmosphere where they could learn about preventing the disease and release them to malls where they could potentially spread the virus to seniors, said Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer.

Having parents stay at home also disrupts workplaces, he said.

Experience from the southern hemisphere, where Argentina closed schools and Chile did not, showed the same levels of control, Butler-Jones noted.

"The closing of schools, while theoretically may be helpful, as it turns out really doesn't," said Butler-Jones. "At most, it might buy you a few days, and you really can't keep schools closed for months on end."

The Public Health Agency of Canada released updated guidelines for schools and daycare centres on Wednesday that stress common-sense prevention like:

* Teaching children to cough into their sleeves.
* Wash hands properly.
* Clean surfaces that are touched often, like doorknobs and keyboards, twice a day.

Young children have less resistance to swine flu and the symptoms may not be obvious, Butler-Jones said. That's why the guidelines recommend parents and schools officials monitor for symptoms like fever.

Wearing masks or gloves is not recommended because they can offer a false sense of security, he said.

The agency offered a second set of new guidelines for post-secondary institutions and boarding schools, which cover topics such as when to postpone travel.
Plans for second wave

The documents should be read in conjunction with provincial guidelines.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq reported that as of Tuesday, 67 Canadians who had swine flu have died, up one from last week's update. H1N1 activity remains moderate, she said.

It's "anybody's guess" how a second wave could unfold, Butler-Jones said. Based on past flu seasons and the severity of cases in the southern hemisphere, a typical pattern ranging from misery to more severe disease with a small percentage of young, healthy people falling severely sick is expected, he said.

"But it would suggest that, at least so far, if you had to predict, the fall will be more of the same ? and in much larger numbers, given the small numbers of people relatively that were infected in the first round [in Canada] and how many of us are susceptible."

Pandemic vaccine plans remain on track, with a "fair bit" of production expected to be completed by the middle of November, Butler-Jones said. Seasonal flu tends to peak after Christmas, by which point some people will have received one dose of the pandemic vaccine.

If a second wave hits hard before all vaccine doses are distributed, measures like social distancing, staying home when sick, early treatment and the first dose of vaccine should help slow the spread, Butler-Jones said.

Although pandemic vaccine trials started first in Australia, its unlikley the Australians will have safety data much sooner than Canada, he said.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/08/19/swine-flu-schools.html

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: No closing school

Re: No closing school

WTB you are from Qu?bec and you know that CTV relay Canada directives.

The last word in Qu?bec concerning school closures will come from School board as you should know and they are the ones that decided.

From the Qu?bec Public Health Institute

The Institut national de sant? publique du Qu?bec (INSPQ) is a government organization founded in 1998 to improve the coordination, development and use of expertise in public health. Its creation involved uniting the province's principal public health laboratories and centres of expertise and transferring and assigning staff from a number of regional public health departments and from the minist?re de la Sant? et des Services sociaux.

http://www.inspq.qc.ca/english/default.asp?A=7

Therefore the information relayed by Canadian Television Network (CTV) do not necessarely apply to Qu?bec.

Snowy