Dallas School District Health Office

Responses to Influenza during the 2009-2010 School Year 

 

Dallas School District will be adhering to the following guideline from the CDC as we monitor the health and safety of our students, staff and families. We are requesting that you help us keep tabs on the health status of our students by: keeping your child home from school and school related activities if he/she is ill; notifying the school when your child is ill; promptly reporting to the school to pick up your child should they become ill while in school. The following is an excerpt from the CDC Web site of recommendations for the schools:

 Stay home when sick: Those 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. They should stay home even if they are using antiviral drugs. (For more information, visit http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance/exclusion.htm.)

 Separate ill students and staff: 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. CDC recommends that they wear a surgical mask, if possible, and that those who care for ill students and staff wear protective gear such as a mask.

 Hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette: The new recommendations emphasize the importance of the basic foundations of influenza prevention: stay home when sick, wash hands frequently with soap and water when possible, and cover noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing (or a shirt sleeve or elbow if no tissue is available).

 Routine cleaning: School staff should routinely clean areas that students and staff touch often with the cleaners they typically use. Special cleaning with bleach and other non-detergent-based cleaners is not necessary.

 Early treatment of high-risk students and staff: People at high risk for influenza complications who become ill with influenza-like illness should speak with their health care provider as soon as possible. Early treatment with antiviral medications is very important for people at high risk because it can prevent hospitalizations and deaths. People at high risk include those who are pregnant, have asthma or diabetes, have compromised immune systems, or have neuromuscular diseases.

 Consideration of selective school dismissal: Although there are not many schools where all or most students are at high risk (for example, schools for medically fragile children or for pregnant students) a community might decide to dismiss such a school to better protect these high-risk students.

If you have any further questions regarding these recommendations, please do not hesitate to contact: Laura J. O’Malley, RN, MS, Certified School Nurse FLU UPDATE Please be advised that there are confirmed cases of influenza A in all Dallas School District buildings. All sick individuals are being managed by their physicians, who are treating all confirmed flu cases as if they are, or could be, H1N1 influenza. Rest assured that School District officials remain vigilant in monitoring attendance, communicating with the families of sick students and staff, and following all hygiene recommendations of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Those recommendations are detailed below. District officials encourage all members of the community to follow the Health Department’s guidance and precautions regarding the flu.