Schools ready for swine flu as classes resume
Ventura County Star
By Tom Kisken (Contact)
Originally published 11:44 a.m., August 17, 2009
As schools begin to open today, it?s much less likely swine flu will shut them down than it was several months ago.
The virus is still here. Fears about it emerged as recently as two weeks ago in an incident that temporarily shut down a Santa Paula High School weight room. Some school administrators think it?s inevitable they?ll see cases but changes in federal safety guidelines provide more flexibility than in April and May when incidents of the flu temporarily shuttered three Ventura County schools.
It would take a dramatic number of flu-related absences ? perhaps as many as 10 percent of the students and staff ? to close down the classes at Santa Paula Union High School that begin today, predicted district superintendent David Gomez. He cited public health officials who characterize the flu as mostly moderate, though it has endured longer than seasonal flu.
Hand sanitizers will be in every classroom and office of the high school and there will be renewed emphasis on hygiene and not sharing items like water bottles. Parents should keep sick children home, but the new safety guidelines say its OK for them to return 24 hours after fever subsides.
?We?re trying to have a heightened alert but we don?t want to stress out people,? said Gomez.
That can be a challenge as Gomez learned earlier this month when dealing with a handful of parents worried about swine flu after a Santa Paula Union High School football player showed flu-like symptoms. School officials temporarily shut down the school?s weight room and sanitized all the equipment. The boy recovered and is doing well.
Schools in Fillmore and Oxnard open Wednesday and many more across the county open next week. A vaccine isn?t expected to be available until October. It?s still unclear whether all school children would be immunized with the answer dependent on how much vaccine is available.
Since swine flu first emerged at the end of April, more than 40 cases have been reported in Ventura County, including one death. It?s likely there have been more swine flu cases because public health officials long ago stopped recommending tests except for the most severe cases or when there?s a possibility of an outbreak.
Flu concerns caused camps across the country and in Ventura County to send some campers home and to screen every newcomer for symptoms. Ojai Valley School, which operates boarding facilities on its two campuses, is taking a similar approach. Every student will be screened.
But large public schools don?t have the funding or staff to screen everyone. Administrators will work with public health officials to monitor absences. They?re buying more hand sanitizers, rubber gloves and plan on hammering home lessons about covering your mouth when you cough.
?We think it would be somewhat naive to think we would not see more cases,? said Gerald Dannenberg, superintendent of the Hueneme Elementary School District, where two schools were shut down for several days in May.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines suggesting schools send home students or staff with flu-like symptoms. Until they?re sent home, they should be isolated and wear surgical masks.
But schools likely won?t be shut down unless the virus becomes worse or a large portion of the school community is sick, said Ventura County Public Health Officer Robert Levin. School administrators defined ?a large portion? as anywhere from 10 to 25 percent but Levin wouldn?t speculate.
?I think it will be one of those things that we?ll know it when we see it,? he said.
If the flu does mutate into a much more severe illness, schools will likely consider screening students and even dismissing students. Teachers would remain so they could use computers and other means to keep providing class lessons.
Though many health officials still access swine flu as no worse than seasonal flu, Levin said there are now some observers who believe the strain is more dangerous. But he said reports from across the world show no evidence that H1N1 is continuing to mutate into a dramatically more deadly illness.
?I?m very hopeful that it will not get worse,? he said.
At universities and boarding schools, staff worry about swine flu spreading through dormitories. At California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, where classes begin on Sept. 2, student dorm supervisors will get special training on flu symptoms. Hygiene signs are being posted in every dorm bathroom.
Dorms won?t be automatically closed if a student contracts a flu that could be H1N1 but the person would be isolated and public health officials would be contacted for more advice, said Kerri Lauchner, director of health services for the university. And if CDC guidelines change and recommend shutting down dorms, the school will do that too.
Some of the people outside a Wal-Mart in Oxnard say they?re not worried at all about swine flu. One woman?s 18-year-old son was quarantined for two weeks in Cancun in June for flu symptoms that turned out not to be H1N1. She worried then but doesn?t think about it anymore.
Maria Pena of Oxnard, who has two teen-aged sons, said H1N1 is still on her mind. She tries to be aware of the risks but doesn?t panic.
?I worry,? she said, ?but they have to go to school.?
Ventura County Star
By Tom Kisken (Contact)
Originally published 11:44 a.m., August 17, 2009
As schools begin to open today, it?s much less likely swine flu will shut them down than it was several months ago.
The virus is still here. Fears about it emerged as recently as two weeks ago in an incident that temporarily shut down a Santa Paula High School weight room. Some school administrators think it?s inevitable they?ll see cases but changes in federal safety guidelines provide more flexibility than in April and May when incidents of the flu temporarily shuttered three Ventura County schools.
It would take a dramatic number of flu-related absences ? perhaps as many as 10 percent of the students and staff ? to close down the classes at Santa Paula Union High School that begin today, predicted district superintendent David Gomez. He cited public health officials who characterize the flu as mostly moderate, though it has endured longer than seasonal flu.
Hand sanitizers will be in every classroom and office of the high school and there will be renewed emphasis on hygiene and not sharing items like water bottles. Parents should keep sick children home, but the new safety guidelines say its OK for them to return 24 hours after fever subsides.
?We?re trying to have a heightened alert but we don?t want to stress out people,? said Gomez.
That can be a challenge as Gomez learned earlier this month when dealing with a handful of parents worried about swine flu after a Santa Paula Union High School football player showed flu-like symptoms. School officials temporarily shut down the school?s weight room and sanitized all the equipment. The boy recovered and is doing well.
Schools in Fillmore and Oxnard open Wednesday and many more across the county open next week. A vaccine isn?t expected to be available until October. It?s still unclear whether all school children would be immunized with the answer dependent on how much vaccine is available.
Since swine flu first emerged at the end of April, more than 40 cases have been reported in Ventura County, including one death. It?s likely there have been more swine flu cases because public health officials long ago stopped recommending tests except for the most severe cases or when there?s a possibility of an outbreak.
Flu concerns caused camps across the country and in Ventura County to send some campers home and to screen every newcomer for symptoms. Ojai Valley School, which operates boarding facilities on its two campuses, is taking a similar approach. Every student will be screened.
But large public schools don?t have the funding or staff to screen everyone. Administrators will work with public health officials to monitor absences. They?re buying more hand sanitizers, rubber gloves and plan on hammering home lessons about covering your mouth when you cough.
?We think it would be somewhat naive to think we would not see more cases,? said Gerald Dannenberg, superintendent of the Hueneme Elementary School District, where two schools were shut down for several days in May.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines suggesting schools send home students or staff with flu-like symptoms. Until they?re sent home, they should be isolated and wear surgical masks.
But schools likely won?t be shut down unless the virus becomes worse or a large portion of the school community is sick, said Ventura County Public Health Officer Robert Levin. School administrators defined ?a large portion? as anywhere from 10 to 25 percent but Levin wouldn?t speculate.
?I think it will be one of those things that we?ll know it when we see it,? he said.
If the flu does mutate into a much more severe illness, schools will likely consider screening students and even dismissing students. Teachers would remain so they could use computers and other means to keep providing class lessons.
Though many health officials still access swine flu as no worse than seasonal flu, Levin said there are now some observers who believe the strain is more dangerous. But he said reports from across the world show no evidence that H1N1 is continuing to mutate into a dramatically more deadly illness.
?I?m very hopeful that it will not get worse,? he said.
At universities and boarding schools, staff worry about swine flu spreading through dormitories. At California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, where classes begin on Sept. 2, student dorm supervisors will get special training on flu symptoms. Hygiene signs are being posted in every dorm bathroom.
Dorms won?t be automatically closed if a student contracts a flu that could be H1N1 but the person would be isolated and public health officials would be contacted for more advice, said Kerri Lauchner, director of health services for the university. And if CDC guidelines change and recommend shutting down dorms, the school will do that too.
Some of the people outside a Wal-Mart in Oxnard say they?re not worried at all about swine flu. One woman?s 18-year-old son was quarantined for two weeks in Cancun in June for flu symptoms that turned out not to be H1N1. She worried then but doesn?t think about it anymore.
Maria Pena of Oxnard, who has two teen-aged sons, said H1N1 is still on her mind. She tries to be aware of the risks but doesn?t panic.
?I worry,? she said, ?but they have to go to school.?