TOP STORY
Some districts, like Long Beach (Calif.) Unified School District, held vaccination clinics for their students and staff.
How Many Districts Are Winning the Fight Against H1N1 with Prevention, Preparation
By Stephane Babcock According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 22 million
Americans have been infected with the H1N1 influenza, commonly know as the swine flu. Although some cases have resulted in death, the numbers have yet to break any historical records. “Flu pandemics are always serious,” said CDC spokesman Joe Quimby. “Although
we are not seeing the severity related to deaths that occurred during the flu pan- demic of 1918-1919, 22 million people have been ill, 98,000 people have been hospitalized and sadly nearly 4,000 people have died due to 2009 H1N1 influenza.”
AWARENESS OF VULNERABILITIES On Oct. 13, Springfield (Mo.) Public Schools made a decision to close the doors of
Delaware Elementary for the remainder of the week from concerns of an elevated ab- sentee rate from the previous three days due to flu-like symptoms. To some, this may have seemed like an overly precautious decision, but in a school where more than 20 percent of the children were out sick and most of the student population is consid- ered medically fragile, the administration took the advice from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department seriously to preempt any further breakouts. “I think as a whole we all need to take steps within our means to provide all things
necessary to prevent the spread within our departments and to and from students,” said Charlie Ott, Springfield’s new director of transportation. Aside from sanitizing each bus and communicating the importance of hand-washing
and using gloves, Ott’s staff gets morning checkups if one of them feels ill, and if anyone has a fever, they receive an immediate ticket back home to bed. “I think this time of year there are many viruses going around,” added Ott. “Tere are a
lot of people in my department who say they have H1N1 but never really checked or had it tested. Tis type of information causes a panic. People need to see their doctors if they think they may have the illness, but shouldn’t say they do when it could be another illness.” In Oregon, the 40,000 students at Salem-Keizer Public Schools and their parents
have been kept up to date with the help of the district’s Flu Task Force. Although there is no immediate way for the district staff to know whether a student is ill with
18 School Transportation News Magazine January 2010
the seasonal flu or H1N1 strain, they continue to monitor student absence percentages to help identify clusters of student absences, according to Director of Transportation Michael Shields. “Te staff of Salem-Keizer schools and
departments continue to teach students proper hygiene and cleanliness techniques in order to decrease the risk of widespread illness. Our Flu Task Force made the bold decision to provide each school with digi- tal thermometers and sleeves, face masks and enough hand sanitizer and anti-viral wipes for each classroom and meeting area in their building,” said Shields.
HEADING OFF THE PROBLEM Even with all the efforts on the fed-
eral level, the H1N1 vaccine was not as readily available this fall as many would have wanted. Some school districts, like Long Beach Unified School District in Southern California, are working closely with their communities to guarantee their students and families access to the vaccinations. “We’ve enjoyed a very strong collabo-
ration and partnership with the city for quite some time now,” said Robert Garcia Tagorda, an administrative assistant in the Long Beach superintendent’s office.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60