Important Message Regarding the H1N1 Flu
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It’s flu season, and the advent of the H1N1 flu virus has brought a new focus to the flu and its prevention and control. Schools have dealt with the flu throughout their history, and we want you to know that your Amphitheater schools are prepared for the flu once again.
Flu can be easily spread from person to person. The proximity of students to one another makes schools a traditional place for transmission of the illness. Therefore, we are taking steps to reduce the spread of flu in schools within the Amphitheater School District. But, we need your help to do this.
We are working closely with local and state agencies, including the Pima County Health Department and the Arizona Department of Education, to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning schools. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available. You can also find information about the latest developments concerning the flu at flu.gov, from the Arizona Department of Health, or by calling 1-800-CDC-INFO.
Parents are encouraged to consult with their child’s healthcare provider about vaccination for the flu. A specific vaccine for the H1N1 virus is not expected to be available until mid-to-late October. Updates on the status of the new vaccine are available online.
Throughout the flu season, it is our goal to keep your schools functioning as usual, while taking precautions to prevent the spread of the flu. The Centers for Disease Control has issued guidance on things you can do to help. You can find that information by reviewing the CDC’s Action Steps for Parents, but here are a just a few of the things you can do:
- Teach your children to wash their hands
often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub. You can set a good example by doing this yourself.
- Teach your children not to share personal items
like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Show them how to cover their coughs or sneezes using the inside of their elbows, arms or shirt sleeves instead of using their hands when a tissue is unavailable.
- Know the signs and symptoms of the flu.
Symptoms of the flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater), cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.
- Keep sick children at home
for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs. Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected. For information on how to care for your child who is at home with the flu, the CDC also has some Parent Action Steps for Caring for Children with the Flu.
- Do not send children to school if they are sick.
Any children who are determined to be sick while at school must and will be sent home in order to prevent illness spreading.
- Take special care if your child is highly susceptible to the flu or other illness.
The CDC has noted that children who are immuno-compromised or at particular risk to the flu due to conditions such as asthma or chronic bronchitis should be protected through specific strategies.
Based upon the most recent guidance and information we have received, Amphitheater schools will be implementing its traditional protocols for illness prevention, along with some new methods. If the flu season becomes more severe, we may take additional steps to prevent the spread of the disease such as:
- conducting active fever and flu symptom screening of students and staff as they arrive at school,
- making changes to increase the space between people such as moving desks farther apart and postponing class trips, and
- dismissing students from school for at least 7 days if they become sick.
We will notify you of any additional changes to prevent the spread of flu.
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