Small Town News

Flu bug hitting classrooms hard

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Some Hays CISD campuses continue to see high numbers of absences as the H1N1 flu virus settles in for the fall. But school nurses say most of the cases are mild, and the students are able to return to school within a few days.

Buda Elementary has been hit hard by the bug, with 24 swine flu cases since the start of the school year, said nurse Cecilia Schmidt.

"So far it seems to be milder than the general seasonal flu," Schmidt said.

Buda Elementary reported 42 absences on Friday, compared to 25 absences on the same day in 2008. Many of the cases are clustered amongst kindergarteners, with 11 students absent out of 85.

Barton Middle School had 46 absences, compared to 33 the year prior. Lehman High School had 41 freshman absent out of 647 total.

In addition to H1N1, a number of other ailments are making the classroom rounds, including strep throat, a stomach virus, the common cold and allergies from high mold counts in the air.

"We are closely monitoring the attendance of all our schools," said Hays CISD spokesperson Julie Jerome. "When we see pockets we notify our custodial staff."

Janitors are stepping up their efforts to sanitize classrooms and busses in hard-hit schools, Jerome said.

At the start of the school year two third grade classes at Buda Elementary were hit especially hard, with several teachers and a majority of the students ut sick. Jerome said school nurses communicated with parents in the affected classrooms, but the district did not send home letters to parents informing them of the high rates of flu on the campus.

Schmidt said two students who suffer from asthma had some respiratory complications but did not need to'be hospitalized.

Hays County officials received reports of 282 cases of suspected flu across the county last week from physicians, school nurses, hospitals and clinics.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that the death toll from swine flu this year is nearing 600. An average of 36,000 people die annually from the regular seasonal flu.

An H1N1 vaccine will be available next month. Flu clinics currendy underway will vaccinate against the seasonal flu.



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© 2009 The Free Press Buda, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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