School Closures May Not Be Necessary When Swine Flu Strikes

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Among the recommendations:

• Students and school staff should exercise good flu hygiene, such as hand washing and covering noses and mouths with tissue when sneezing or coughing (use a shirt sleeve if tissue is unavailable).
• If flu is suspected, the affected person should contact a health-care worker as soon as possible. People at high risk (due to pregnancy, or medical conditions such as asthma or diabetes) should take antiviral medication immediately to reduce risk of prolonged or dangerous illness.
• Schools should have an action plan for flu outbreaks, including a room set aside for people suspected of coming down with flu, as they wait to be transported home. Schools should also have a contingency plan should important personnel, such as school nurses, fall ill.
• The CDC recommends the use of surgical masks for ill students or staff and those caring for them.
• The education of students who are ill at home with the flu should be continued, using phone calls, homework packets and Web-based learning.
• Any ill student or staff member should stay home for an additional 24 hours after flu symptoms such as fever have ended, even if they are using antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu.
• Select schools with high populations of high-risk students (for example, schools for "medically fragile" students) may want to consider closure.

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However, these guidelines may need to be revisited and revised should the swine flu prove more dangerous this fall, health officials said. Under those conditions:

• Parents should check their children each morning for flu symptoms and keep them home if they have a fever. Students should also be screened for flu symptoms upon arrival at the school.
• If any family member of a student becomes ill with the flu, the respective student should stay home for five days from the day symptoms arise, the experts advised.
• Increase distances between students by spreading desks further apart or canceling classes that bring students from different classes together.
• Extend the stay-at-home period for sick students to seven days, even after symptoms have subsided.
• Close schools after careful weighing of the risks and benefits to students and the community. Schools should be closed for five to seven calendar days, and then officials should reassess the advisability of re-opening the school.
• Even during a school closure, teachers and staff should have access to the school so they can continue to provide instruction via the Web and other means. Speaking at the news conference, Arne Duncan, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, said that "realistically, some schools will close this fall. If they do, it is important to us that students continue to learn."

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