The "swine flu" (now being referred to as the H1N1) has received so much attention, there is not much more information that we can provide as a school to help educate parents/children. Nevertheless, the school nurses are a good resource if any of you do have specific questions -- do not hesitate to contact any of our four nurses.
Though there now have been a couple of confirmed cases in New Jersey (none in Gloucester County), the reports over the weekend indicate that there is a chance that the strain of flu may be more mild than originally feared. That would obviously be a good thing.
The New Jersey Commissioner of Education, Lucille Davy, did have a conference call for all school superintendent's last Thursday afternoon. During the call, she reviewed information that was provided to schools earlier in the week. We had that information posted on our website, but during the recent upgrade of the site, the posting was "lost."
Therefore, I am printing the NJ Department of Education information below. As you will see, the information here continues to stress good, common-sense hygiene.
NJDOE INFORMATION:
Guidance for School and Childcare Settings
At this time,
Staff and children (as developmentally appropriate) should all be taught and asked to follow these steps that prevent the transmission of infections such as influenza:
§ Cover your coughs and sneezes.
§ Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
§ Wash hands frequently, especially after coughing or sneezing.
§ Stay home if you’re sick, especially with a fever.
School or childcare participants with acute febrile respiratory illness, regardless of travel history, should be sent home according to facilities-established procedures with instructions to stay at home until 24-48 hours after their symptoms resolve. Instructions should be given to seek medical care with worsening of symptoms. At this time, exclusion is not recommended for school or childcare participants who have recently traveled to an affected area and who do not have symptoms.
Disease Reporting and Consultation
To report suspected cases of swine influenza or outbreaks of influenza like illness, please contact the local health department in the jurisdiction in which the school is located.
We are interested in testing individuals presenting with influenza-like illness (fever, cough, sore throat), mild respiratory illness (nasal congestion, rhinorrhea) with or without fever, vomiting, diarrhea, myalgia, headache, chills, fatigue, dyspnea and conjunctivitis.
A.) History of travel to an area where swine influenza H1N1 documented in animals and/or humans (see http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/investigation.htm ); OR
B.) Close contact (within 6 feet) to an ill patient who was confirmed or suspected to have swine influenza; OR
C.) Close contact (within 6 feet) to an ill patient who has traveled to one of the areas above; OR
D.) Recent exposure to pigs; OR
E.) Works with live influenza virus in a laboratory.
For More Information :
http://www2a.cdc.gov/podcasts/player.asp?f=11072
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/school/
Preventing the Spread of Influenza (the Flu) in Child Care Settings: Guidance for Administrators, Care Providers, and Other Staff: Flu recommendations for schools and child care providers http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/infectioncontrol/childcaresettings.htm
Protecting Against the Flu: Advice for Caregivers of Children Less Than 6 Months Old: Research has shown that children less than 5 years of age are at high risk of serious flu-related complications. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/infantcare.htm
Stopping Germs at Home, Work and School: Fact Sheet http://www.cdc.gov/germstopper/home_work_school.htm
Ounce of Prevention: Tips and streaming video for parents and children about the steps and benefits of effective hand washing http://www.cdc.gov/ounceofprevention/
Clean Hands Saves Lives: Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. http://www.cdc.gov/cleanhands/
Hand washing to reduce Disease: Recommendations to Reduce Disease Transmission from Animals in Public Settings http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5605a4.htm
BAM! Body and Mind. Teacher's Corner: In this activity, students will conduct an experiment on washing their hands. They will learn that "clean" hands may not be so clean after all and the critical importance of washing their hands as a way to prevent the spread of disease. http://www.bam.gov/teachers/epidemiology_hand_wash.html
CDC TV - Put Your Hands Together: (Video) Scientists estimate that people are not washing their hands often or well enough and may transmit up to 80% of all infections by their hands. http://www.cdc.gov/CDCTV/HandsTogether/
Cover your Cough Posters: Stop the Spread of Germs that Make You and Others Sick! Printable formats of "Cover Your Cough". Posters only available as PDF files. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/covercough.htm
CDC - Be a Germ Stopper: Posters and Materials: For Community and Public Settings Like Schools and Child Care Facilities). Cover Your Cough also available for health care settings. http://www.cdc.gov/germstopper/materials.htm
"It's a SNAP" Toolkit Program materials to help prevent school absenteeism activities for school administrators, teachers, students and others can do to help stop the spread of germs in schools.
See the hand cleaning section of the "It's a SNAP" site at www.itsasnap.org/snap/about.asp.
Scrub Club http://www.scrubclub.org/Kids can learn about health and hygiene and become members of the Scrub Club(tm) at www.scrubclub.org. The site features a fun and educational animated Webisode with seven "soaper-heros" who battle nasty villains who represent germs and bacteria. Kids learn the six key steps to proper hand-washing through a webisode, hand-washing song, interactive games, and activities for kids, and educational materials for teachers are also available to download.
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