Aug. 17, 2009

County school system preparing for swine flu spread

By Scott Wright

CENTRE — Dozens of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and even the president of Costa Rica have been infected. Schools in at least one Third World country have already shut down. There have been thousands of confirmed cases across the United States and at least one confirmed death in Alabama.

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As a result, officials at the Cherokee County Board of Education suspect it will only be a matter of time before they, too, have to deal with an outbreak of swine flu. Actually, there have already been two confirmed cases of the virus, officially called H1N1, among students in Cherokee County.

The best plan of action now, said Superintendent Brian Johnson, is to make certain that school nurses, teachers, and support personnel are prepared to deal with any significant spread of the infection at one or more of the county's eight campuses – or maybe even prevent it from spreading in the first place.

“We are going over our plan to make sure we know what to do,” Johnson said last week. “We are doing everything that was recommended by the Alabama Department of Public Health” during a live teleconference last week.

Johnson confirmed that there have been a couple of student cases of H1N1 in Cherokee County. He also said the state has supplied a “flow chart” of potential symptoms and preventative measures that he hopes will help teachers and school nurses detect the onset of symptoms in time to avoid an outbreak.

“If a student has a temperature of 100 degrees plus possible exposure or recent travel, we will immediately isolate that student from the rest of the population,” Johnson said. “We will also provide them with a mask and then call the parents to pick up the student.”
Johnson said the Centers for Disease Control next recommends the parents call the local health department or their family physician for further instructions regarding treatment.

Johnson said if the affliction turns out to be H1N1, the student will be prohibited from returning to school until the virus has passed.
“The timeline is for three to five days of home rest after the onset of symptoms, or at least 24 hours without fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications,” Johnson said. “And we will excuse those absences.”

Johnson said faculty and staff are already spreading the word about preventative measures in the classrooms, hoping to stop a spread of H1N1.

“We're making sure everyone knows to keep surfaces and door knobs wiped down, and we are also encouraging students to wash their hands, cover their mouths with their sleeves or a tissue if they cough or sneeze, not their bare hand, things like that,” he added. “Teachers will also be on the lookout for students who seem to be under the weather.”

Theresa Thompson, nursing supervisor for Cherokee County Schools, said one of the biggest surprises from the teleconference was that schools will not automatically close if an outbreak of H1N1 is detected.

“That was a concern when we first started talking about this back in the spring,” she said. “Now, should the numbers get to the point that we could not conduct regular business at a local level, then we might have to look at [closing].”

Thompson said the reason for the flip-flop on locking the schoolhouse doors may be that the virus has not been as brutal as feared. As of Aug. 7, she said, there has been only one confirmed death in Alabama.

“The severity is not what they feared it would be,” she said. “The concern now is the number of students who might contract it if it gets into our school system.”

Thompson said that concern comes from outbreaks in other counties where significant numbers of infections occurred once the virus began making the rounds.

“It's very easily spread, but it hasn't spread here yet,” Thompson said. “We've only had two students with the virus so far. We just want to get the word out so everyone will know what we will be doing if the numbers increase. We're ready, and we've got our plan in place.”

Thompson said the Dept. of Public Health plans to make flu shots available to students across Alabama sometime in October or November. The shots will not be mandatory.
“It will be free, and we will be sending permission forms home for parents to sign,” she said. “They are anticipating having enough to go around, but right now they are still in the process of testing that vaccine.”

Thompson also had some common sense advice for any student or Board of Education employee who begins to show symptoms.

“Until there is no fever for 24 hours, please stay home,” she said.