Back to school means back to jammed hallways, crowded locker rooms, shared lunches and lots of other evidence of close quarters. With swine flu on many people’s minds, see a recent post about a Windsor High student who was cofirmed this week, school officials are trying to get the word out and keep the word out about what people can do both in and out of the school environment to keep students, teachers and staff swine-flu-free.
State schools chief Jack O’Connell held a press conference Friday and re-emphasized the following tips for staying healthy. We have heard them many times before, but well, the return to school sometimes merits a little cramming of old facts to knock away the summer cobwebs:
• “Students and staff with flu-like illness should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines.
• Students and staff who appear to have flu-like illness should be sent to a room separate from others until they can be sent home. If possible, the ill person should wear a surgical mask to prevent coughing or sneezing on others. A school nurse or other staff person caring for the student should use appropriate personal protective equipment.
• Students and staff should wash hands frequently with soap and water when possible, and always cover noses and mouths with a tissue, shirt sleeve, or elbow when coughing or sneezing. If soap and water is not available, alcohol-based hand sanitizers should be available for student and staff use.
• School staff should routinely clean areas that students and staff touch often with the cleaners they typically use. Cleansers with bleach and other non-detergent-based cleaners are not necessary.
• People experiencing severe flu symptoms, especially those who are at high risk for complications if they become ill with an influenza-like illness should speak with their health care provider as soon as possible. People at high risk include those who are pregnant, have asthma or diabetes, have compromised immune systems, or have neuromuscular diseases.
• Although there are not many schools where all or most students are at high risk, a community might decide to dismiss a school to better protect these students. School officials should work closely and directly with their local and state public health officials when deciding whether or not to selectively dismiss a school or schools with large populations of high risk students.”
This also from O’Connell:
“If the severity of the virus increases, the federal guidance instructs school administrators to work closely with local public health officials in determining whether to implement an expanded range of options, including dismissing students for a period of time to slow the transmission of the virus.”
“O’Connell pointed out that the guidance stresses that it is important to balance the risk of flu in a community with the disruption, potential safety risks, and other consequences that school dismissals could cause in education and the wider community.”
“In the event of a school dismissal ordered by a public health officer, school administrators should have plans for continuing the education of students who are at home, through phone calls, homework packets, Internet lessons, and other distance learning approaches.”
“Also, school administrators are urged to self-report the closure to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/schools/dismissal_form/index.htm.
“To assist schools in preventing the spread of viruses, the California Department of Education offers further guidance, pandemic flu planning checklists, and resources on flu prevention in multiple languages at
“Schools, parents, and any member of the public may also download a free “Keep Our Schools Healthy” information toolkit that contains posters on how to prevent the spread of any germs and viruses at
The sample letter to parents and guardians is at
The U.S. Department of Education offers schools a communications toolkit at
http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/toolkit.html.
For more detailed school guidance, please visit
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance/exclusion.htm.”