H1N1 prevention urged

June 6, 2009 • Aleesa Suarez, Copy editor  
Filed under News

Commonly referred to as the “swine flu” by the public media, this new strain of influenza has swept through the US and is now settling in Kansas. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak, starting in Mexico, a pandemic.

“Although testing for H1N1 has been put on hold, H1N1 patients experience fever, sore throat, a cough, minor nausea, and basic flu symptoms,” Carolyn Bartlett, Holton school nurse, said.

Students may notice a few changes around their schools this fall due to sickness. School/public-health nurses have been gearing up for when the H1N1 virus hits the schools. Since recent reports show several Jackson County cases, schools are encouraged to take precautionary measures to keep the virus out.

“We have to treat any flu as if it’s the worst kind of flu, which means keeping kids at home when they’re sick and disinfecting everything,” Bartlett, said.

Janitors disinfect desks and lockers frequently, and anti-bacterial hand sanitizers have been placed around the schools, often in cafeterias and bathrooms. Sickness policies are being upheld with hope to keep the flu out of the schools as well. Each student with a 99.6° fever or above must stay home for a 24-hour period before returning to school.

“I would strongly recommend the flu vaccination to prevent and reduce the H1N1 virus,” says Valerie Olberding, Jackson Heights school nurse. “Washing your hands frequently is also an effective way of prevention.”

Olberding, who works at Jackson Heights during the school day, has started a hand-washing program at the elementary schools. Within 15 minutes, students learn the proper way to wash their hands. The program was used years ago when the health department received a grant to teach elementary students. Olberding reads a book to the students, then practices the new techniques learned with the class.

“There are over 400 germs on a single desk,” Olberding said, “and a person will touch over 300 surfaces in a time frame of 30 minutes. With this program, kids will tremendously reduce their risk of catching the virus.”

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