Schools and health district: Wait and see on H1N1 flu, shots

FALLS VILLAGE — Region One school district officials are bracing for the appearance of the H1N1 (swine) flu this school year.

Region One Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain said the six elementary schools and Housatonic Valley Regional High School have procedures in place.

“Principals have received a notebook, including a fact sheet and steps to take, from the Centers for Disease Control.�

Chamberlain said a primary goal is “to educate the kids to cover their mouth and nose when sneezing, and to practice good hand hygiene.�

“We will be sending sick children home,� she added. “If flu-like symptoms appear, we will contact the parents immediately and have them come as soon as possible.�

According to the Centers for Disease Control’s Dr. Joe Bresee, symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include: fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

Swine flu infection can be fatal (as can seasonal flu), Bresee warned, and parents and school staff should be on the lookout for these and other symptoms in young children.

The region is taking a cautious but measured approach.

“Schools will not close unless the number of absences interferes with the progress of the other [healthy] children,� Chamberlain said. “If the school can no longer move the rest of the children forward, then it will close.

“But there is no magic percentage or number� of sick children that triggers a closing.

Chamberlain said she does not know of any H1N1 cases during the previous school year, but she expects to see some this year.

Region One has full-time nurses in all its schools, she said. “Medically fragile children will be identified by the nurses and school physicians.�

And there is a common-sense element involved: “Don’t come in if you are sick.�

If children are sick and subsquently treated, they will be allowed to return once they have been on medication and are symptom-free for 24 hours.

The Torrington Area Health District (TAHD), which is the health authority for most Northwest Corner towns, is working with Region One.  

“I think everyone should take the flu seriously but also use common sense,� said TAHD Assistant Director Leslie Polito. “Flu viruses are unpredictable and have the ability to mutate. Therefore it is often hard to predict how serious each flu season will be.

“Currently in the U.S. with seasonal flu, on average there are more than 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths annually. There are always high-risk groups of people who don’t handle illness as well, and they tend to get more serious illness.

“I also think preventive actions are warranted. Washing hands, covering your cough and staying home when you’re sick are effective ways to limit the spread of germs.�

Polito said TAHD is the lead “mass dispensing area� for this part of the state.�If the decision is made to distribute H1N1 vaccine, it will be our job to help facilitate it.

“Currently the thinking is that there will be private-public partnerships� to distribute the vaccine, she said. “If we are able to get enough vaccine, we will probably try to vaccinate children in schools, as they are one of the priority groups [persons age six months to 24 years].�

If it comes to vaccination in Region One, Polito said the health district “will most likely partner with the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association.�

But for now it’s a bit of a waiting game. “We have to be somewhat flexible, as it really depends on whether the CDC decides to vaccinate, how much vaccine will be available and when,� Polito said. “The current estimate is that 45 million doses will be available in mid-to-late October.�