Health alert from your School Nurse!!
Dear Parent/Guardian,
As you may know, the flu can be easily spread from person to person. Therefore, we are taking steps to reduce the spread of flu in Bridge View. We want to keep the school open to students and functioning in a normal manner during this flu season. But, we need your help to do this.
Children with chronic health problems such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, metabolic conditions, neurologic and neuromuscular disorders are at higher risk of having complications from flu. If you are not sure if any of your children are at higher risk for flu complications, please check with a doctor.
Keep children at high risk for flu complications from getting sick with the flu
• Make sure your child’s hands are washed for 20 seconds with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub often and especially after coughing or sneezing.
• Make sure that your children do not share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve instead of the hand when a tissue is unavailable.
• Keep your child away from people who are sick.
• Clean surfaces and objects that your child frequently touches with cleaning agents that are usually used.
• When there is flu in your community, consider your child’s risk of exposure if they attend public gatherings. In communities with a lot of flu, people who are at risk of complications from flu should consider staying away from public gatherings.
• If flu is severe in your community, talk to your doctor and child’s school to develop a plan on how to handle your child’s special needs.
• Get your child vaccinated for seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu when vaccines are available.
Recognize if your children are sick
Some children may not be able to tell you about their symptoms, which can result in a delay in responding to their illness. It is important to watch carefully for the signs and symptoms of flu or unusual behavior that may be a sign your child is sick. Symptoms of flu include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, and fatigue. A fever is a temperature taken with a thermometer that is equal to or greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius). If you are not able to measure a temperature, your child might have a fever if he or she feels warm, has a flushed appearance, or is sweating or shivering.Watch for emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention. These warning signs include the following:
Fast breathing or trouble breathing, bluish or gray skin color, not drinking enough fluids, not urinating or no tears when crying, severe or persistent vomiting, not waking up or not interacting, being so irritable that the child does not want to be held, pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen, sudden dizziness, confusion, flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
Tips for taking care of high risk children with the flu
• Contact your doctor immediately if your child is sick. This is important because the antiviral medicines used to treat flu work best when started within the first 2 days of getting sick. Your doctor will tell you what special care is needed for your child.
• Keep your sick child at home until at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever or signs of a fever (without the use of a fever-reducing medicine). Keep your child home unless they need to go to the doctor.
• Make sure your child gets plenty of rest and drinks clear fluids (such as water, broth, sports drinks, electrolyte beverages for infants, Pedialyte®) to keep from being dehydrated.
• If your child has a fever, use fever-reducing medicines that your doctor recommends based on your child’s age. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) should not be given to children or teenagers who have flu; this can cause a rare but serious illness called Reye’s syndrome.
• Keep your sick child in a separate room (a sick room) in the house as much as possible to limit contact with household members who are not sick. Consider designating a single person as the main caregiver for the sick child.
We are working closely with health officials to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning schools. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.
If the flu becomes more severe, we may take additional steps to prevent the spread such as:
• Dismissing students from school for at least 7 days if they become sick.
• Health officials may decide in specific cases that closing a school is indicated.
Visit www.flu.gov, or call 1-800-CDC-INFO for the most current information about the flu. For more information about the flu in our community and what our school district is doing, visit www.spps.org. We will notify you of any additional changes to our school’s strategy to prevent the spread of flu.
Sincerely,
Jeanne Sedgwick, School Nurse
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Student Wellness
This is the Student Wellness site for the Saint Paul Public Schools
H1N1_Flu_letter.doc
Health alert from your School Nurse!! Please Read
