Health experts continue to predict a rise in H1N1 swine flu virus cases as students head back into classrooms this fall. The World Health Organization recently warned that the world could see an “explosion” of cases in the coming months.

 

Symptoms of the virus include high fever, cough or sore throat, body aches headaches, chills and fatigue. Many stricken with the disease have also reported runny noses, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

“I think in a realistic setting, we should expect that there clearly is going to be an upsurge of cases when you get into the fall,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes for Health during an Aug. 21 press briefing. “We certainly need to expect that as we have the confluence of kids going back to school and the weather going into an influenza season.”

Fauci said that the American population has very little immunity to the new influenza. 

“Influenza is unpredictable and, while we’re working to make sense of as much of the information as possible, we don’t know what lies ahead in the coming weeks and months,” said Jay Butler, director of the Center for Disease Control’s H1N1 Vaccine Task Force.

Only in the second week of classes for the school year, the Eanes school district is already working to be prepared for the impact of the virus, hoping to reduce the effect on students, staff and the local community of whatever stage of severity they encounter. 

“We are trying to get three main messages out to parents, staff and students,” said Dale Whitaker, district communications director. “The importance of hand washing, covering noses and mouths when coughing or sneezing and keeping students at home when sick.

Whitaker said the Health Department has not notified the district of any confirmed H1N1 cases in the district.

“We have no confirmation of any cases from the Health Department, but certainly we have had some reports of students who are home sick with fever or other general flu like symptoms,” she said. “From what we understand, physicians aren’t routinely sending off cultures to be tested for the H1N1 strain for every patient who displays flu symptoms. From what we understand, the Health Department is only doing surveillance on critical cases and deaths.”

Increased numbers of sick students and longer time at home during illness could have a financial impact of school districts like Eanes who receive credit from the state for weighted average daily attendance numbers. Whitaker said the district does have on-line software in place that could help deliver curriculum to sick students stuck at home.

District administrators have pre-registered to receive H1N1 vaccines for students, staff and community members if a vaccine is developed and released this fall as expected. 

Additional measures the Department of State Health Services recommends to help combat the spread of the H1N1 virus include keeping students at home who have an ill household member for five days from the day the first household member got sick, increasing the distance between students while at school, and extending the period of time that those who contract the virus stay at home to seven days, even if they have no symptoms. 

“We will also offer opportunities for seasonal (non-H1N1) flu vaccines for students and staff through Flubusters, which will be scheduled at each campus in late September or early October,” Whitaker said. “We are waiting on more information on when the H1N1 vaccine will be released. We will provide more information when we know more.”

Cost for the seasonal flu vaccines is $25.For more information, visit texasflu.org and cdc.gov.h1n1flue/update.htm.