Modesto Bee Article

By Ken Carlson, Modesto Bee Staff Writer
last updated: October 2, 2009

Just when there seemed to be a lull in flu cases, students started going home sick from a Modesto private school last week and were still getting ill Thursday.

St. Stanislaus School had 59 of its 200 students absent Tuesday because of flulike illness, leaving almost 30 percent of the desks empty at the Maze Boulevard school. Six more students went home sick Thursday, the principal said.

Students had fever, headache and a bad cough, and some were vomiting. There was no confirmation if it is H1N1 influenza or a combination of seasonal viruses. Public health officials no longer run tests when outbreaks occur at schools.

No students are known to be seriously ill, an official said.

"We are doing our best to stop it, but the germs are here," Principal Donna O'Connor said, adding there were no plans to close the school. "As soon as a child has symptoms, they are isolated from other students and the parents are asked to take the student home."

Stanislaus County had outbreaks of H1N1 influenza through the summer and the misery continued as students returned to school for the fall session. No reported deaths from the flu strain have occurred since late August; the majority of cases are no more serious than seasonal flu.

H1N1, a form of swine flu, remains the dominant strain of influenza circulating this fall, said health officials, who are awaiting an ample supply of vaccine to hold public immunization clinics.

The illness is similar to seasonal flu and the major- ity of patients recover without needing medical attention. County officials have reported six deaths from swine flu and 63 people hospitalized since July.

St. Stanislaus sent a letter to parents Tuesday to update parents on the flu epidemic at the school. Most of those sick were middle school students (or sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.)

Staff were sanitizing desks and tables each day and instructing students to use hand cleansers and cover mouths when coughing.

"We have not heard from parents about any confirmed diagnoses (of H1N1) from their doctors," O'Connor said. Teachers were adjusting their curriculum so stricken students would not miss too much work.

The outbreak began when a few students got sick Sept. 22. More became ill as the middle school students attended a three-day retreat near Santa Cruz last week. The school held its fall festival last weekend.

Two parents are known to have taken children to a hospital emergency room last weekend to have them checked out for H1N1. Generally, hospitals are no longer giving a preliminary test for H1N1 unless patients are admitted.

A St. Stanislaus parent said Thursday she took her child for an examination and her doctor said it didn't appear to be H1N1. The parent said she knew of two families who had healthy children stay home from St. Stanislaus because of the outbreak.

Other schools normal

Other schools in the county reported normal absentee rates or were reluctant to talk about attendance records.

Schools in Turlock Unified School District had a spate of illness soon after students returned from summer vacation. That was followed by a lull, although 30 students were out sick at Julien Elementary School on Thursday, nurses said.

Gil Ogden, director of student services, said he couldn't discuss attendance records without clearance from the superintendent.

Despite the viral infections making the rounds, Modesto City Schools has not seen an abnormal number of ab- sences, said Emily Lawrence, emergency operations committee coordinator for Mo- desto City Schools.

"It's running around 1 to 3 percent in the elementary schools, which is where we were at the same time last year," she said.

State health officials expect a first shipment of 350,000 doses of nasal vaccine for H1N1 next week and 200,000 doses of injectable vaccine the week after. About 4,600 doses of the nasal vaccine will be sent to health care providers in Stanislaus County.

"The state prefers that these initial doses go to providers who serve high-risk children age 2 to 10," said Nancy Fisher, county public health nursing director. "Once we have enough vaccine, the county will look at having some community vaccination clinics."

It was premature to estimate when the county will make the vaccine available to the public, she said. Private physicians and pharmacies will also be giving the H1N1 flu shots.

KEY INFORMATION

About a third of the 170 students at St. Stanislaus School in Modesto missed class this week because they were sick. Stanislaus County health officials expect that cases of swine flu, or H1N1 influenza, will increase in the coming weeks and months. Here is what you need to know:

• THE ILLNESS: H1N1 influenza is contagious. It's mainly spread by coughing or sneezing and infected droplets coming into contact with another person. People also can pick up the virus from a desk, a doorknob or other infected surfaces.
• SYMPTOMS: Fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue. Patients may have diarrhea and vomiting. Symptoms are usually mild to moderate; most patients fully recover.

PRECAUTIONS

• Cover coughs and sneezes with an elbow, sleeve or tissue. Coughing into hands can spread germs to others.
• Wash hands often with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, even after washing your hands.
• Avoid close contact with sick people.
• Stay home if you are sick.

ON THE NET

For more information: www.stanemergency.com or www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu.

Sources: Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Bee staff writer Ken Carlson can be reached at kcarlson@modbee.com or 578-2321.