School flu cases on the rise
Two hundred eighty-eight Minnesota schools reported outbreaks of influenza-like illness during the week of Oct. 18-24, the most yet this season, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. The number of school outbreaks is up from 230 the week before.
An outbreak in Crookston, Minn., resulted in schools being closed Oct. 21 for a long weekend to give students and staff time to recover. In addition, the Crookston Daily Times reported that the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo schools closed Oct. 14 because of widespread illness among high school students.
The health department’s threshold for reporting a school outbreak is 5 percent or more of a school’s total enrollment absent because of flu-like illness, or three or more elementary students from the same classroom absent with suspected flu. The most common flu strain detected in the state's laboratory is H1N1.
The Minnesota Health Department and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control have issued guidelines for responding to the flu for K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and preschool providers.
The basic advice from the government agencies includes washing hands frequently, covering coughs and sneezes, staying home (or keeping children home) when sick, and keeping ill students and adults away from others. The health department has also issued specific recommendations for athletic directors and coaches.
The H1N1 flu typically lasts five to seven days. In general, flu patients should stay home from school or work until at least 24 hours after their fever subsides without medication. Those who go to school with, or work with, medically fragile students, pregnant girls and preschool children should stay home seven days after symptoms begin or 24 hours after symptoms resolve, whichever is longer.
Under the federal guidelines, schools generally will stay open during an outbreak. However, that could change if the flu becomes more severe. Vaccine for the H1N1 flu is not yet widely available.
October 28, 2009