Northern Kentucky Health Department

Five Minutes on Flu: Swine flu and Schools

Updated January 5, 2010

Quick links

School dismissals
Vaccination in schools
More information

Surveillance

Separate ill students and staff. Students and staff who appear to have flu-like illness should be sent to a room separate from others until they can be sent home. The CDC recommends that they wear a surgical mask, if possible, and that those who care for ill students and staff wear protective gear such as a mask.

Prevention

Stay home when sick. Students and staff with flu-like illness should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines. They should stay home even if they are using antiviral drugs.
Hand washing. All students and staff should wash hands frequently with soap and water; use hand sanitizers when soap and water is not readily available.
Cover coughs: All students and staff cover should their noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Tissues should be disposed of properly.
Early treatment of high-risk students and staff. Certain groups are at higher risk of complications from flu and should speak with their health care provider as soon as possible. People at high risk include those who are pregnant, have asthma or diabetes, have compromised immune systems, or have other serious chronic health problems.

Surface cleaning

Clean surfaces and items that are more likely to have frequent hand contact such as desks, door knobs, keyboards or pens with cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas. Clorox, Lysol or any other standard disinfecting product may be used.

School actions

Additional measures to help protect students and staff if it's found that the swine flu is causing more severe disease. These include:

Situation monitoring: Department of Education, state public health and education agencies, and CDC will monitor school dismissals and other related issues.
Updated guidance: Guidance may be updated as needed based on the changing situation.
Examine processes: Schools should examine and revise, as necessary, their current crisis or pandemic plans and procedures. They should plan for critical services, such as food service, hygiene supplies and personal protective equipment for staff.
Communication: Schools must communicate with families and the community about what they will do to decrease spreading influenza illness; and help families and communities understand the important roles they can play in reducing the spread of influenza and keeping schools open.
Responsibility lies with all: Students, staff, and their families must take personal responsibility for staying home when ill, washing hands, covering coughs, and planning in advance for child care in the event of a school dismissal.

School dismissals

The decision to close a school must be weighed carefully. Concerns about public health and disease transmission must be balanced with concerns about the disruption that school closure can cause.

Kentucky law states that the decision to close a school is up to the superintendent. The Health Department can provide health advice to school officials on the specifics of each situation, but the decision will be theirs.

There are two types of school dismissals:

Reactive dismissals might be appropriate when schools are not able to maintain normal functioning. For example, when a significant number and proportion of students have documented fever while at school despite recommendations to keep ill children home.
Preemptive dismissals can be used proactively to decrease the spread of flu. This may be recommend if the flu starts to cause severe disease in a significantly larger proportion of those affected.

If a school does close, private sector support and community support is essential for working parents and guardians who need to stay home to care for an ill child or find alternate child care.

Ill Family Members
Students who have family members who are ill with swine flu are not required to stay home as long as the student him/herself does not have symptoms. The student should be monitored daily for symptoms such as fever.

Vaccination in Schools
Staff from the Health Department administered the swine flu vaccination to around 14,000 students and staff in local schools from November 30 and December 16. Learn more.

More information

For complete guidance including a communication toolkit for schools: http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/index.html.

Health Department's swine flu fact sheet

Health Department's frequently asked questions

Submit your own question about swine flu