By Melissa Pamer and Douglas Morino Staff Writers | Daily Breeze
Posted: 09/05/2009 10:00:00 PM PDT
<<Sanitizer is on hand as Leapwood Elementary Assistant Principal Robin Kaufman prepares for classes to begin at the Carson school. (Chuck Bennett Staff Photographer)
At the height of last spring's near-hysteria over the H1N1 virus, Vista Grande Elementary School in Rancho Palos Verdes made headlines when county health officials reported an outbreak of "swine flu" on campus.
It soon turned out that, though nearly a tenth of the student body had been absent in one day, the situation was overblown. County officials said they had miscommunicated about a diagnosis of swine flu.
Parents at the school were more tolerant than one might expect, school Principal Patricia Vincent said. But this fall she's not taking any chances.
"We're trying to be proactive rather than reactive. We got caught in a reactive situation last year," Vincent said. "I don't want to make the front page that way."
Like school officials across the South Bay, the state and the nation, Vincent is developing communication plans for making parents, teachers and students aware of H1N1, how to prevent its spread and what to do if you or your child get it. Letters are going out and Web sites are being updated.
Meanwhile, administrators are stocking up on hand sanitizer and hanging posters with hand-washing instructions.
"We don't think school officials need to be worried; we think school officials need to be informed," said Hilary McLean, director of communications for the California Department of Education. "They need to have a plan, and they need to be in communication with employees, parents and health officials. "It's not a cause for panic or worry."
Local district officials are taking their cues from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which has issued guidelines for schools about hygiene, keeping sick students out of school, and dealing with an outbreak.
Last week, one of Vista Grande's fifth-grade teachers was already in the practice of reminding her students to "hit the hand sanitizer" on the way out of class.
"It's just those kinds of things that, if we get in the habit of doing them, it's going to make life better for all of us as we head into flu season," Vincent said.
Swine flu originated in Mexico last spring, sending 9,079 people to the hospital and causing 593 deaths across the United States from April to Aug. 30, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California had seen 1,663 hospitalizations and 144 deaths through Sept. 1, statistics from the state Department of Health showed.
With children - one of the groups most vulnerable to H1N1 - heading back to school this week, health officials are expecting an increase in flu cases.
"Kids are vectors for disease. They have the least amount of immunity, they congregate in close settings and they're terrible about washing their hands. They're little virus machines," said Dr. Laurene Mascola, head of the L.A. County Department of Public Health's acute communicable disease control program.
"Flu has always been around, and in the past people have just shrugged it off. This is the first time people will be paying attention."
Last week, the CDC released a study showing that among 36 children who died of H1N1 this year, the majority were school-age, rather than toddlers or babies. Most were 5 to 18 years old and had underlying conditions such as muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy.
An uptick in flu infections has already been seen in areas where school is back in session, particularly in the Southeast, the director of the CDC said recently. Many colleges are seeing an increase as well.
But parents should keep healthy kids in school, Dr. Thomas Frieden said on a conference call with reporters last week.
"Schools should ensure that kids who are sick are separated and sent home with a parent or caretaker, and that kids cover their cough, cover their sneeze and wash their hands. If those simple steps are taken, the number of people who become infected will come way down," Frieden said.
With H1N1, children appear to be particularly vulnerable, according to health experts. That makes the disease different from other strains of flu that have tended to primarily effect the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
Mascola and other health officials have stressed that swine flu has been mild in the vast majority of cases, and that the illness does not require medical care unless truly severe.
But infection is expected to be widespread: a White House report last week stated that 30 to 50 percent of the population could be infected.
County health officials said they do not intend to test flu patients for H1N1 except in serious cases where a diagnosis is needed. Nonetheless, many local school officials said they will strive to tell parents if there was an outbreak of the flu on campus.
"We try to keep the parents informed. Here's our problem: They're not going to do testing for H1N1. All we're going to know is somebody has the flu. Whether it's seasonal flu or pandemic flu, it's going to look the same to us," said Bob Spears, director of emergency services for Los Angeles Unified and a member of the school district's H1N1 task force.
Los Angeles Unified is sending out a letter to parents this week detailing ways to help stop flu from spreading.
Last week, the school district sent campuses a preparation kit geared at flu response in advance of classes beginning Wednesday. The kit included stickers for bathrooms reminding kids to wash their hands, a training DVD for staff on staying well, a backup plan if many staff members become sick and a detailed flu response guide, and an order form so schools can stock up on tissues, soap and other supplies.
"There's a lot of hand sanitizer just waiting for them to order it," said Karen Saunders, operations director for LAUSD Local District 8, which covers Carson, Gardena, Lomita and the Harbor Area.
The county has asked school officials to report outbreaks of "influenza-like illnesses," constituted by a cluster of five of more flu cases in a single classroom or group.
Sick students - those with a fever of more than 100 degrees or a feeling of fever, along with a cough, sore throat or runny nose - should be separated from healthy pupils and be sent home or kept from school.
Federal guidance released last week instructed preschool providers to perform daily checks for flu symptoms in youngsters, a measure that's only recommended for K-12 schools in the event of a more severe outbreak than was seen last spring.
Schools should not be closed except in cases of severe outbreaks, per CDC, state and local public health guidelines.
Last spring, 37 schools across the state - though none in L.A. County - were closed at some point in April and May because of H1N1. The direction is more clear this time around.
"If we have a large number of students who become ill, we will notify parents. That's our standard practice," said George Mannon, superintendent of Torrance Unified School District. "The last thing we would want to do is close a school."
The main thing for education officials is making sure parents keep sick students out of school. That may pose a challenge for districts that cater to lower income populations.
"The parents will be put in an awkward situation because they'll be dropping off their kid, saying, `I need to go to work.' We're trying to connect with them and say, `You need to keep your children home,"' said Spears of LAUSD.
The seasonal flu vaccine should be available this month, and public health officials are encouraging everyone to receive it. Once the H1N1 vaccine - a separate shot, and probably two shots - becomes available some time in October, many schools will encourage parents to have children immunized.
Children and other sensitive groups should be first in line for the H1N1 vaccine, which remains the best way to prevent the flu, federal officials have said.
"After Oct. 15, it'll be really easy," said Mascola, of the county health department. "Just get everyone vaccinated."
No comments:
Post a Comment