mcphilbrick
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Schools Hit Hard by Flu Bug
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- In at least one metro school, 30 percent of the students are out ill -- some with the H1N1 virus and others who are just sick.
School officials remind students to cough into their sleeves, to wash their hands with soap and water, and they are constantly sanitizing the classrooms. But even with a vigilant approach, schools are seeing a significant increase in absenteeism due to the flu.
In the Blue Valley district, all eight middle schools and in four elementary schools 10 percent of their students are out sick. At Prairie Star Middle School, at least 30 percent of the middle schoolers are out with flu-like symptoms or H1N1 -- that's the highest percentage in Johnson County.
"If you look at how the trend is going nationally, we are definitely in the throes of that," said Susan Deny, executive director of student services for the Blue Valley district.
Denny said parents must keep their children home if they are sick with flu-like symptoms even if they have not been diagnosed with H1N1. She said school officials learned early on that closing schools was not the best approach.
"Once the kids came back, the virus spread again," she said. "But we are collaborating with the health department and the state. We are hoping we don?t have to come to that conclusion."
But now that the H1N1 vaccine is available, the question remains as to how comfortable parents will be getting their children the shot.
"I'm just a little apprehensive," one parent said. "Because it's so new and we don't know about it yet."
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- In at least one metro school, 30 percent of the students are out ill -- some with the H1N1 virus and others who are just sick.
School officials remind students to cough into their sleeves, to wash their hands with soap and water, and they are constantly sanitizing the classrooms. But even with a vigilant approach, schools are seeing a significant increase in absenteeism due to the flu.
In the Blue Valley district, all eight middle schools and in four elementary schools 10 percent of their students are out sick. At Prairie Star Middle School, at least 30 percent of the middle schoolers are out with flu-like symptoms or H1N1 -- that's the highest percentage in Johnson County.
"If you look at how the trend is going nationally, we are definitely in the throes of that," said Susan Deny, executive director of student services for the Blue Valley district.
Denny said parents must keep their children home if they are sick with flu-like symptoms even if they have not been diagnosed with H1N1. She said school officials learned early on that closing schools was not the best approach.
"Once the kids came back, the virus spread again," she said. "But we are collaborating with the health department and the state. We are hoping we don?t have to come to that conclusion."
But now that the H1N1 vaccine is available, the question remains as to how comfortable parents will be getting their children the shot.
"I'm just a little apprehensive," one parent said. "Because it's so new and we don't know about it yet."