Schools Monitoring Flu Progress

From the BCCT.

Link to the Morrisville District website and specific swine flu recommendations.

Schools closely monitoring situation
If a student is infected with swine flu, the county health department would recommend closing the school for seven days, a county spokeswoman said.
FROM STAFF REPORTS

With Pennsylvania reporting its first probable case of swine flu in Philadelphia Wednesday, local school administrators and public health officials are closely watching the outbreak sweeping across the United States.

Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are among the states with unconfirmed swine flu reports, while 11 states have confirmed at least 93 cases and one death, a toddler from Mexico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The World Health Organization has raised the swine flu alert level to five, the second highest level meaning it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent. The identical virus has spread to at least seven countries, though most were mildly sickened; Mexico, where the virus originated, is the hardest hit with more than 2,400 sickened and more than 150 deaths.

The suspected first Pennsylvania case occurred in a 2-year old child in Philadelphia who became ill on March 23, according to the state department of health. The child has no known risk factors for exposure to swine flu and he has fully recovered.

With the virus moving human-to-human, national attention has focused on schools where health officials worry it can spread quickly. Most of the U.S. cases so far are connected with two schools in New York City.

President Barack Obama said public health officials are recommending schools with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu “strongly consider temporarily closing so that we can be as safe as possible.”

The CDC said more U.S. cases have required hospitalizations and a pattern of more severe illness associated with the virus may be emerging in the United States. Typically 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population is infected and 36,000 deaths are blamed on seasonal flu annually.

Pennsylvania health officials have maintained contact with schools this week to keep them updated, spokeswoman Holli Senior said. School districts do not currently submit emergency preparedness plans to the state Department of Education.

If a student is infected with swine flu, the county health department would recommend closing a school for seven days, the infection’s incubation period, Bucks spokeswoman Stacey Hajdak said. But the final decision would be left with the superintendent, she added.

In Bucks County, schools have posted basic swine flu prevention information on Web sites. Public, parochial and private school officials are also monitoring CDC updates and student and staff illnesses, as well as updating parents, officials said.

“As a proactive measure, we will be meeting with all of our staff this week to go over our procedures,” said Leon Poeske, acting director of the Bucks County Technical High School in Bristol Township.

Neshaminy Superintendent Louis Muenker said his schools would follow county and state health department recommendations, unless a national directive requires other action.

Council Rock School District is reevaluating field trips scheduled for cities and other high population areas.

“While we are not taking a position on these trips at this time, changes in the concentration or severity of this reported outbreak will likely force the district to eliminate some or all of these trips,” according to a letter to parents.

Holy Ghost Preparatory High School in Bensalem reported it has an emergency response plan in case a swine flu situation should arise, said Ken Ferrara, the school’s executive director of Institutional Advancement. He doesn’t expect that the school to close because of an outbreak.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese’s superintendent for Catholic education Wednesday sent health department guidelines to its elementary and high school principals, but left it to the administrators’ discretion to forward it to school families, spokeswoman Donna Farrell said.

She added the archdiocese would likely follow the same protocol it uses during the regular flu season.

“We have schools that sometimes have to close because so many teachers are sick, so it is something we’re prepared to deal with,” Farrell said.

Bucks County Community College, which has three campuses, incorporated a pandemic flu response plan into its emergency preparedness manual two years ago, during the avian flu scare.

If a local, state or federal health agency declares a local flu or viral outbreak, which could potentially affect the college, college administrators meet and decide the course of action, according to the manual.

Decisions may include: Closure of the campus in whole or part, delayed semester start, cancellation of a semester, opening up campus as a temporary health facility, continuing college business as usual but taking precautionary medical measures, etc.

Ongoing training of college administrators and information dissemination to campus users will be part of the college’s response to addressing the potential for a pandemic flu, viral outbreak, or other health related emergency.
Staff writers Manasee Wagh, Jo Ciavaglia, Rachel Canelli and Joan Hellyer contributed to this story.