Swine flu update: School absences in normal range
Published: Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 5:19 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 5:19 p.m.
Sonoma County school officials are monitoring student absences related to flu infections, but so far no mass outbreaks have been documented.
Through conversations, e-mails and social networking sites, parents have passed on reports of illnesses and absences at their children's schools, but county health officials and school district administrators said Thursday they haven't had any widespread problems.
Carl Wong, the superintendent of Sonoma County Schools, said absences don't prompt a second look until they stray about 5 percent from normal rates. That hasn't happened yet this year among the 71,074 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in county public schools.
“There is no indication of problems at this point,” he said.
He said, however, administrators are anticipating greater absentee rates once the flu season really kicks in during the coming weeks and months.
Some schools have seen individual classes hit hard by apparent flu outbreaks. Andrea Johnston, development director at Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm in Santa Rosa said one class of about 30 students recently had 15 students absent.
“We don't really know (what the cause was),” she said. “We just know about the absences. We're waiting to get more information so we can stop speculating.”
Parent Sally Lambert, whose 11- and 17-year-old children attend New Horizons private school in Santa Rosa, said school officials have communicated well with parents about possible outbreaks.
“We were told as soon as the first student tested positive for swine flu,” she said. “They have insisted that the kids frequently wash their hands and use the hand sanitizing machine that I donated.”
She said students have not been allowed to share food or drinks and have had to bring their own pencils to avoid spreading illnesses.
Through a tutor for one of her sons, Lambert said she heard of more significant problems at other schools. She suspects not all schools are being as open about flu outbreaks.
“My greatest hope would be that schools and the Health Department would start to communicate honestly with parents,” she said. “I don't know why the parents can't look up the number of students absent at each school as an indication of what is going on.”
Health officials have said that the H1N1 flu virus is so widely prevalent in the population that quarantines or school closures would not have any impact on its spread.
Sonoma County health officials have reported 9 deaths and 62 hospitalizations resulting from the H1N1 flu virus, according to weekly figures compiled statewide.
Since this spring, more than 3,000 people in California have been hospitalized with the H1N1 flu and 219 people have died, said Dr. Mark Horton, California's public health officer.
Most of those who died had underlying medical conditions, such as asthma, chronic lung disease, muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, but some were otherwise healthy.
Complications of the H1N1 flu include pneumonia and bronchitis, and can worsen preexisting medical problems such as asthma and congestive heart failure. Most people who get the flu can recover in less than two weeks without seeing a doctor or taking antiviral drugs.
Santa Rosa Memorial and Petaluma Valley hospitals are seeing between six and nine potential flu patients each day in the emergency rooms, but no confirmed H1N1 patients were at either hospital on Thursday.
Two pediatric patients were seen at Santa Rosa Memorial within the past week and were either admitted with confirmed H1N1 or transferred to another hospital, spokeswoman Katy Hillenmeyer said. About two or three suspected flu patients per week were being admitted at Memorial.
Dr. Deborah Britt, a pediatrician with Annadel Medical Group in Santa Rosa, said her office is “incredibly busy,” with young patient.
“It's like we usually are in December, January and February,” she said. “The cough, fever, flu like symptoms is what we're seeing a ton of. The kids that have been sick do seem to have influenza.”
The H1N1 flu is by far the predominant flu strain circulating in California, according to health officials. More than 95 percent of the flu samples the state has received are testing positive for that strain.
Stewart Clark, assistant principal at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa, said he's tracked a slightly higher than normal absentee rate among the school's 446 students.
“It's perceptible,” he said. “But this is not nearly a rampant pandemic.”
He said about 15 students have been diagnosed with H1N1 or were assumed to have it by their doctors, he said.
“I'm hearing the same rumors you are about other schools. I actually heard them about Cardinal Newman,” he said. “But that's not what we're experiencing at the moment.”
“We're sending a weekly update to parents saying ‘here's what the facts are. Let's deal with facts rather than fear. And let's to do what we can to say safe,' ” he said. “Yes, people will become ill, like we do every year. If it becomes significantly different, we'll deal with it.”
Registered nurse Wendi Thomas, the nurse manager of emergency services at Petaluma Valley Hospital, encourages anyone with flu symptoms to stay home, rest, drink fluids, take pain relievers for any aches.
“If they have difficulty breathing, dizziness or other worrisome symptoms then they should seek medical care,” she said. “Also, we cannot stress enough careful hand washing and proper covering of the cough.”
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
Comments are currently unavailable on this article