H1NI FLU and SEASONAL FLU INFORMATION

The school district has compiled information from the state Health Department and the federal Centers for Disease Control to ensure that current details about the H1N1 influenza are available to the school community.
 

Parents should contact their child’s physician in the event of illness. For general information, including symptoms and recommended precautions, parents may contact their child’s school nurse or visit the Web sites and sources listed at right.

Seasonal flu and H1N1 flu can spread quickly in large group settings. To minimize the occurrence and transmission of the flu, parents, staff and students are asked to help in the following ways:

• Watch for flu symptoms: fever (over 100 degrees), cough, sore throat, runny nose, stuffy nose, muscle pain, fatigue, vomiting or diarrhea.

• In the absence of observable flu symptoms, note if your children eat less, are irritable or exhibit different behavior as they may be getting the flu.

• Encourage the use of simple non-medical ways to prevent spread of germs, such as covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue and then throwing the tissue in the trash or coughing into your shoulder.

• Encourage children to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water before eating. When hand washing is not possible, use hand sanitizing rubs that contain at least 60% alcohol. Hand sanitizer gel is not suitable for children under six.

• Keep children who you suspect are getting the flu from attending school or from going anywhere else such as group childcare, the mall, or sporting events where other people would be exposed to the virus.

• Encourage children to avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth and sharing items to prevent spreading germs.

• Keep children home if they have the flu, until they have been fever-free for 24 hours without medication.

• Seek advice from your health care provider if your child has a serious medical condition or a greater risk of infection.

• Respond as quickly as possible if your child’s school nurse calls to advise that your child is ill and needs transport home to reduce the contact with others in the school.

• Notify the school to report your child’s absence, without indicating that your child has H1N1 unless diagnosed by a physician.