Flu Information Update 10.22.09
October 22, 2009
District 308’s health services department is working closely with the Kendall County Health Department (KCHD) to track the number of student absences and the reasons for those absences. Although there has been a district-wide increase in the number of students and staff reporting flu-like symptoms, at this time the increase is not significant enough to result in the closure of any of the district’s 20 schools.
This increase in flu cases was anticipated, and community members are urged not to overreact to media hype or rumors. The district realizes the importance in doing our part to keep our students and staff healthy and learning. We will continue to communicate both our efforts and updated health department recommendations with the community.
All District 308 schools are aggressively disinfected with the appropriate cleaners DAILY. This includes all desks, doorknobs, bathrooms and hard surfaces. More commonly touched areas are cleaned throughout the day as well. However, even as we work to keep our schools safe and healthy places, just like the seasonal flu, students can be exposed to the H1N1 virus in many other locations (stores, churches, home).
The district previously informed parents that they would be notified if their children were in classrooms in which a LABORATORY confirmed case of H1N1 was reported. However, laboratory testing for the 2009 H1N1 flu is only being done in extremely rare cases. The reliability of rapid H1N1 tests typically done in physicians’ offices are being questioned throughout the medical community, so public health officials do not consider these results to be “confirmed” cases of the H1N1 virus.
Therefore, per the advice of the Kendall County Health Department, we DO NOT intend to alert families about individual cases of H1N1. Given the size of our schools and the expected spread of the virus throughout the community, parents would most likely receive daily messages about new reports of students in the district with “flu-like symptoms” causing undue alarm.
The district is aware of the rare, but potential dangers of ALL TYPES of the FLU, and parents of children in fragile health are urged to seek immediate medical guidance from their health care provider if they display flu-like symptoms. The district will continue to educate its students and staff on the importance of virus prevention and ask parents to help reinforce these messages (information on prevention is available on the district Web site at www.oswego308.org/family_information/healthservices.aspx).
The district will continue to monitor the situation with our public health partners and provide parents with updates. If you have additional questions, please call the KCHD Flu Hotline at 630.553.8340 or visit them at www.kendallhealth.org.
Click here to view the English & Spanish parent letters regarding the H1N1 flu