Schools hit with spike in absentees

‘Flu-like' illnesses noted

Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009

Charles County Public Schools officials have not determined a specific reason for the spike in absent students, but say a number of students are experiencing flu-like symptoms. The numbers are now rising at a nearby middle school.

Public schools spokeswoman Katie O'Malley-Simpson confirmed that 34 students Friday were sent home sick from school at La Plata, 23 of whom had flu-like symptoms. The causes for the additional 329 students who were marked absent Monday could not be identified by the school system.

Twenty-three percent of La Plata's 1,380 students for one reason or another were not in school Monday.

O'Malley-Simpson said this number is far more than La Plata typically reports and high for what other schools normally report, saying that La Plata and other schools usually have attendance rates 90 percent or higher.

Tuesday's attendance rate at La Plata was higher than Monday's.

By Tuesday, the number of absentees dropped to just more than 300 students and by noon, O'Malley-Simpson said, fewer students had reported to the office with flu-like symptoms.

While it is impossible for the school system to tell at this point why each of the 300-plus students was absent, "We know we have a lot of students with flu-like symptoms," O'Malley-Simpson said.

Symptoms of influenza include cough, nasal congestion and sneezing, fever and body aches.

O'Malley-Simpson said the high absentee rate at La Plata began Friday and on Tuesday, two school days later, the school system noticed a similar spike at Milton M. Somers Middle School. By noon Tuesday, 154 students were reported absent at Somers. According to O'Malley-Simpson, 15 students were sent home with flu-like symptoms.

One way to monitor reasons for spikes in absenteeism is with the numbers of students being sent home from the health room and for what reason. Schools monitor this data and when the numbers of students who are sent home for flu-like symptoms hits five, schools are put on a higher alert.

O'Malley-Simpson said the school system is looking at schools on the west side of the county now as there have been five students with the symptoms sent home from Henry E. Lackey High School.

William Leebel, spokesman for the Charles County Department of Health, said county health officials, like everyone else, are looking at two different strains of the flu now. Leebel said both the seasonal flu and H1N1 — swine flu — are strong this season and the health department is working to get information out to families and agencies across the county about both.

Leebel said the health department is encouraging people to get the seasonal flu shot and even the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available. More information on when and how much of the H1N1 vaccine will be available is coming out in as little as two weeks, according to Leebel.

In the meantime, the health department and the school system are working together along with other agencies to get information on curbing the flu as much as possible.

The federal Centers for Disease Control, which both the health department and school system look to for guidance on the flu, is not recommending closing schools when spikes like this occur.

O'Malley-Simpson said the school system will pay close attention to absenteeism and determine if a school can efficiently run a classroom and what the school needs to do to ensure the school can still run effectively and efficiently.

As was done at Somers and La Plata, students who are experiencing flu-like symptoms are being isolated from the rest of the school population until those students can be picked up to go home.

O'Malley-Simpson said the school system and health department already had plans in place such as designated isolation areas in the event such high numbers of sick children were in school.

A letter went home to parents earlier this school year with information about flu strains and tips for parents and students, such as remembering not to share personal items, frequently washing hands and covering coughs.

An additional letter went home to parents at La Plata after a spike of absenteeism was noticed and then a flu reminder letter was sent home to all parents at all schools. One effective reminder to parents is that if their children have flu-like symptoms, do not sent them to school.

Children who have fevers should not be sent to school until 24 hours after the fever has gone away.

"School nurses are monitoring every single school, every single day," O'Malley-Simpson said.

While people can take measures to curb symptoms and help keep the virus from spreading rapidly, Leebel said the flu is not going away.

"The virus is really just like a hurricane," he said. "It's a force of nature, and it has got to run its course."

gphillips@somdnews.com