Culver schools’ administration, naturally, hopes to keep schools open and students functioning as normal, but the letter notes additional steps may be taken should the flu spread severely, such as “conducting active fever and flu screenings of students and staff as they arrive at school,
making changes to increase the space between people such as moving desks farther apart and postponing class trips and dismissing students from school for at least seven days if they become sick.”
Each school building, notes the letter, “is cleaning desks with proper sanitizers, restrooms, drinking fountains, etc. on a regular basis.”
The school encourages parents to teach children “to wash often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub, not to share personal items such as drinks, food, or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues.” Parents are also asked to keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they the child’s fever has subsided.
Culver area and Culver Academies physician Dr. Warren Reiss penned a letter to Academies faculty and parents noting “boarding schools will likely see (H1N1) disease this school year and need to have contingency plans in place for care of those who may become ill.”
Reiss said the school has discussed the potential impact of the virus on the area community, noting the Academies’ past experience with flu epidemics on campus and that the school is working closely with the ISDH (Indiana Department of Health).
“The same principles of separating those who are ill from those who remain healthy will apply,” added Reiss.
An H1N1 vaccine is expected across the nation at some point in October, though initial quantities of the vaccine — which probably will require two injections per person — will likely be limited at the outset.
“The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has targeted five groups for the vaccine,” notes Reiss. “This includes students (to age 24). In the event of a shortage of the vaccine, only children five to 18 years of age who have underlying risk factors that put them at greater risk for complications of the flu are included as a targeted group.”
Reiss added quantities of the vaccine for seasonal (that is, non-H1N1) flu are expected to be sufficient, and the Academy has ordered quantities of that vaccine based on previous years’ experience, though he noted this vaccine likely won’t affect H1N1 flu.
Reiss said Culver has not yet been advised of a time frame for the H1N1 vaccine’s arrival in Culver.
As is the case with typical seasonal flu, H1N1 spreads via coughing and sneezing by infected individuals, who are usually contagious for 24 hours prior to their symptoms’ appearance and five to seven days after. Also similar to regular flu, H1N1 symptoms may include cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat, head and body aches, and fatigue, while H1N1 has been said to also cause diarrhea and vomiting in some sufferers.
Reiss, in addition to preventative methods such as those stressed by the Culver Community Schools’ communication, adds advice to boost one’s natural immunity “by eating a healthy diet, exercising, maintaining adequate hydration, and getting adequate sleep (for an adolescent this is at least 8 hours per night).”
More information is available at www.flu.gov, or 1-800-CDC-INFO for the most current information about the flu. For more information about the flu in the Marshall County area, visit
www.co.marshall.in.us .
