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School Health and Safety NoticesH1N1 Influenza A (Swine Flu) Information From Lexington -Parents and Guardians should keep ill children at home. The Lexington Public Schools continues to have students diagnosed with flu symptoms. A flu-like illness is defined as a fever over 100 degrees accompanied with runny nose, sore throat, or cough. If you or a family member have a fever and a headache, this is not flu, unless one of the other three symptoms appears. We advise parents to monitor children for 24 hours at home when any one of the above symptoms appear. The schools are practicing the DPH protocol and requiring students be excluded for seven days. Exclusion starts the day of onset of symptoms, i.e. if the cough started on Tuesday, and the fever on Wednesday, exclusion starts Tuesday. Students testing negative for Influenza A need to still be excluded for the 7 days. According to a local pediatrician & state epidemiologist, there is a 20% chance of false negative. Parents/Guardians are the only ones who can control exposure to other students, families, and friends. Please do not allow students or other family members with flu-like symptoms to attend school, friends/family houses, or other community/public events during the seven-day exclusion period. Please review the following basic hygiene practices with your children and other family members: covering their mouths with a tissue when they sneeze or cough, not sharing food or drinks and wash hands frequently. These simple steps are very effective at preventing the spread of flu and other illnesses. Giving your children guidance on what they can do to prevent infection provides for them a greater sense of control over the flu and will help to reduce their anxiety. The school nurses will continue monitoring absenteeism, which includes determining the reasons why children are absent, to verify whether a high absenteeism is due to flu or other reasons. This will inform us of any variation in our normal absentee rate. Thank you for your assistance in controlling the spread of the flu virus. Education Material is available for Parents, Guardians, and Students about H1N1 Influenza A (Swine Flu) Virus (May 11, 2009) H1N1 Influenza A (Swine Flu) Virus - LPS Parent Update (May 5, 2009) H1N1 Influenza A (Swine Flu) Virus - LPS Parent Update (May 1, 2009) Translation of H1N1 Information: Helpful Information Links:
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