Posted: Aug. 18, 2009 |(0) Comments

Back to school this year will involve strict attention to more than the usual classroom learning.

"Getting kids to cover their coughs, wash their hands and stay home if they are sick will be repeated over and over," said Jane Peterson, director of the North Shore Health Department. "The (H1N1) flu may come back before the vaccine is ready sometime later in October. Hand washing will be pretty key to prevention."

Peterson, Cindy Tomasello at the Shorewood-Whitefish Bay Health Department and Glenda Madlom, the director of public health for Ozaukee County, are working with local school districts as they plan for the opening of school under the shadow cast by the H1N1 flu virus.

The Milwaukee area was hard-hit by the first outbreak of the virus last spring and health officials fully expect more cases this fall when students and staff come back to school.

"The Center for Disease Control is saying up to 40 percent of the country could get sick," Peterson said.

The virus has been particularly contagious among younger people.

Tomasello said that when her department investigated flu cases during the spring outbreak, they found no one older than 55 and one person who was 55 who were ill with the flu.

"The rest were under 30," she said.

The three directors said H1N1 immunization clinics will be held but the location and timing of the clinics cannot be set until the vaccine is ready. It is currently being tested.

School's could host clinics

It's possible that some clinics will be held in the schools because younger people have tended to be more susceptible to the illness and to be sicker, Peterson said.

"We haven't historically done school-based clinics in Shorewood and Whitefish Bay," said Tomasello. "However, this will be a totally different ball game."

Peterson said three schools in her communities have indicated a willingness to conduct school-based clinics. The North Shore Health Department is willing to have clinics in the schools but the nurses will need help.

"We are looking at community groups and groups in the schools to help with the paperwork," she said.

Madlom said that while her department will definitely hold clinics, their locations are still a work in progress.

"It will take the whole community of medical providers and public health to care for the schools and the target populations," she said.

The state Department of Public Instruction is providing updated direction and information to the school districts.

"What we are hearing is that they are encouraging schools not to close," said Demond Means, superintendent of schools for the Mequon-Thiensville School District. "They don't want us to get wrapped up in the hysteria we saw this spring."

Means said his district, like other North Shore districts, will be receiving updates and evaluating them during the course of the year.

Schools will likely have to accommodate staff members whose children are ill.

Health officials say that children should not go to any type of congregate care when absent from school because of illness.

"We will be very accommodating to our teachers, many of whom have young children," Means said. "We may see a spike in the use of substitute teachers, but as far as I am concerned, families come first."

Local health departments will be in close contact with the districts once the school year starts.

"We will know what is going on from surveillance and absenteeism," Madlom said.

Keep sick kids at home

Madlom stressed that in addition to hand washing, covering coughs and staying home when sick, families should make sure children are eating a good diet and getting enough rest as flu season returns.

All three directors stress the importance of keeping sick children at home. The CDC recommends children and others with the flu go 24 hours without fever and without taking fever reducing medication before returning to school or work. Additional information about the flu can be found on the CDC site, www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu.

The health directors also want to remind everyone that two flu shots will be needed this year, one for seasonal flu and another for H1N1 when that vaccine becomes available.

Seasonal flu clinics will be held earlier than normal, according to all three directors, to allow for H1N1 clinics when that vaccine arrives.

Seasonal Flu Clinics

The Ozaukee County and the Shorewood-Whitefish Bay health departments had not set dates for seasonal clinics at deadline, but readers may check the Ozaukee County Web site at co.ozaukee.wi.us/ or the Shorewood-Whitefish Bay at the Shorewood Web site, villageofshorewood.org to find the dates and locations when they are available. H1N1 clinics will also be announced as those dates are set. The North Shore Health Department Web site is browndeerwi.org/brown-deer-services.cfm?id=40.

The North Shore Health Department seasonal flu clinics are as follows:

10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Sept. 17, North Shore Library, 6700 N. Port Washington Road

3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 23, Brown Deer Village Hall, 4800 W. Green Brook Drive

3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 30, North Shore Library

8 to 11 a.m., Oct. 6, Brown Deer Village Hall