With all the rumored H1N1 cases, and St. Charles East School closing bec
ause more than 900 students were absent, the number-one question going through everyone’s mind is whether LHS is going to close as well.
The decision is ultimately up to the superintendent, Prentiss Lea. Lea said there is not a magic number that will cause the school to close, but everyday they are keeping a close eye on absences. They are also keeping track of how many absences are due to flu-like symptoms, and will continue to keep in contact with parents, get out the newest information as fast as possible, and work with the health department, if needed.
LHS has not had any recent confirmed cases of H1N1. But H1N1 is a Type A influenza, and doctors offices only do basic tests to see if a patient has Type A or Type B. A patient is only tested for H1N1 if they are hospitalized.
However, there have been many cases of Type A influenza assumed to be H1N1. Even teachers have been affected. Ms. Polzin, English teacher, was out for three days with H1N1. Polzin identified the symptoms within 24 hours of when she first got them, and therefore was able to get the correct medicine to help minimize the sickness.
Polzin had a fever that was very high before she took medicine, but after taking it she felt better. She wasn’t quite sure how she got the bug, but she thinks it may have been from another teacher who had it. They share a computer and a phone. Another theory Polzin had was that a lot of her students were sick with the flu but hadn’t yet realized it.
“Before, I wasn’t as aware, and that was the scariest part,” she said.
LHS is still taking precautions by adding hand sanitizer to classrooms and reminding coaches to take extra precautions with water bottles and sports equipment. They are also monitoring sick calls, staying in constant contact with the health department, stepping-up cleaning procedures, putting information up on LHS’ home page, and hanging posters on the walls informing students to cover their mouth when coughing, and wash their hands.
“I always wash my hands even if I don’t go to the bathroom. Also whenever I see hand sanitizer, I use it,” Freshman Callie Angel said.
At the beginning of this week, LHS had a student absent rate of about 2.5% due to flu-like symptoms, down from last week’s 5%. This is about as many people absent as Vernon Hills, which is not closed either.
“It is so very, very important that if you have a fever over 100 degrees, you should stay home.” Cam Trout, school nurse said.
According to the “Chicago Tribune,” 40 million doses of the swine flu vaccine were expected to be shipped out across the United States in October, but now federal health officials are saying that the vaccine will be made widely available by mid-November. People such as pregnant women, those with chronic illnesses, health care/emergency workers and children are high at risk for contracting swine flu, so they would be first in line to receive the vaccine. Some workers are worried that the vaccine may be distributed to late. 25% of Americans are predicted to become infected with H1N1.
Symptoms a person should watch out for when trying to determine a case of swine flu include fever, fatigue, cough, runny or stuffy nose, shortness of breath, sore throat, body aches, headaches and chills. There have also been some more extreme cases which have included diarrhea and vomiting.
H1N1 is contagious from human to human. It is spread in the same way as other strains of flu: Air droplets from talking, coughing and sneezing all contribute to its spread.
photo by T. Wanbaugh