May
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May 2009 – Swine Flu
May 5, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
There has been much information in the news as of late regarding the swine influenza and what are schools could do as well as what are they doing if the issue would take place within a district building or with an individual student or teacher.
The district has been in constant contact, through the internet and phone conferences, with the Department of Health and the local Emergency Management Center. Phone conferences have been conducted daily to provide updates to districts regarding information surrounding this issue across the Commonwealth and the nation as a whole. If a district is not able to attend a phone conference, the local emergency management is sending out the notes from the meeting to all superintendents in the area.
In order to prepare students and staff in this issue, the following items are important to be utilized to prevent the spread of respiratory infections in the school setting. A list of these items was sent home with students within the last couple of days.
Cough Etiquette
Always remind children to:
· Cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough or sneeze – have them throw the tissue away after they use it.
· Wash their hands often with soap and water, especially after they sneeze or cough. If water is not near, us an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
· Remind them to not touch their eyes, nose or mouth. Germs often spread this way.
Hand Washing
Remind children, staff members and care providers in child care settings to wash their hands or use alcohol-based hand cleaners, and make sure that supplies are available to prevent the spread of germs.
· Encourage children and staff members to use soap and water to wash hands when hands are visibly soiled, or an alcohol-based hand cleaner when soap and water are not available and hands are not visibly soiled.
· Encourage staff members and care providers to wash their hands to the extent possible when engaged in certain activities, such as after wiping the child’s nose or mouth, after touching objects such as tissues or surfaces soiled with saliva or nose drainage.
· Encourage staff members and care providers to wash the hands of infants and toddlers when the hands become soiled.
· Encourage children to wash hands when their hands have become soiled. Teach children to wash hands for 15-20 seconds (long enough for children to sign the “Happy Birthday” song twice).
· Oversee the use of alcohol-based hand cleaner by the children and avoid using these on the sensitive skin of infants and toddlers.
· Rub hands thoroughly until the alcohol has dried, when using alcohol-based hand cleaner.
· Keep alcohol-based hand cleaner out of the reach of children to prevent unsupervised use.
· Ensure that sink locations and restrooms are stocked with soap, paper towels or working hand dryers.
· Ensure that each room is supplied with alcohol-based hand cleaner when sinks for washing hands are not readily accessible. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are not recommended when hands are visibly soiled.
Exclusion of ill children and staff members
Observe all students for symptoms of respiratory illness.
· Observe closely all children for symptoms of respiratory illness. Notify the parent if a child develops a fever (100° F. or higher under the arm, 101° F. orally, or 102° F. rectally) or chills, cough, sore throat, headache or muscle aches.
· Notify the local health department so that appropriate guidance can be given, send the child home, if possible, and advise the parent to contact the child’s doctor.
· Infants and young children can become quite ill with influenza very quickly and might require urgent medical attention and possible hospitalization.
· If a child has difficulty breathing, is lethargic, or appears to be worsening rapidly, consider calling a physician or 911 in addition to notifying a parent.
· Encourage parents of sick children to keep their children home.
· Encourage sick staff members to stay home.
· Encourage parents of sick children to keep the children home and away from the school setting, until they have been without fever for 24 hours, to prevent spreading illness to others. Similarly, encourage sick staff members or care providers to stay home until they have been without fever for 24 hours.
Environmental sanitation
Keep the environment clean and make sure supplies are available.
· Clean frequently touched surfaces, toys and commonly shared items at least daily and when visibly soiled.
· Use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered household disinfectant labeled for activity against bacteria and viruses, an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant, or EPA-registered chlorine bleach/hypochlorite solution. Always follow label instructions when using any EPA-registered disinfectant. If EPA-registered chlorine bleach is not available and a generic (i.e., store brand) chlorine bleach is used, mix ¼ cup chlorine bleach with 1 gallon cool water.
· Keep disinfectants out of the reach of children.
This information is also posted on the district web page and provides an opportunity for parents to review it to see what they can do to prevent an outbreak not only at home but in the community as well. Hand sanitizers are provided in lunch lines for students to use prior to purchasing their lunch.
All district administrators are receiving daily updates from the Department of Health. One current concern is field trips into areas where there are confirmed cases of the swine flu. In the updates, the comment on field trips is for the district to contact the regional Department of Health about potential travel to that area.
As any new information comes into the district on additional measures that could be taken other than the items listed above, it would be released to teachers, parents and students.
