H1N1 closes school district
One day after officials received news that a student tested positive for H1N1 influenza, Alexandria Central School District's Board of Education decided to shut down school today and Monday.
The decision came on the same day the World Health Organization officially declared the outbreak of H1N1 or swine flu a global pandemic.
And 90 minutes after they made the temporary closure decision with the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services safety officer, District Superintendent Robert B. Wagoner said a second H1N1 flu case in the school was confirmed.
"We felt it was prudent to follow this line of action at this point," he said.
According to the district's Web page, there has been "significant absenteeism due to other ailments." One hundred of the building's 680 kindergarten through 12th-grade students were out of school Thursday, but Mr. Wagoner said although most of them are sick with a stomach bug, sore throats or seasonal influenza, other students are out due to the senior trip, and some parents just decided not to send their child to school.
School will resume Tuesday with elementary students having regular classes. Eighth grade graduation has been canceled, while ninth through 12th grade students will follow their Regents schedules.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend school closure or dismissals related to H1N1 flu only if "there is a magnitude of faculty or student absenteeism that interferes with the school's ability to function."
The announcement of the local school district's temporary closure came shortly after the Jefferson County Public Health Service reported Thursday three new cases of H1N1 flu. On Wednesday, the Public Health Service announced there were five new cases.
The county now has nine confirmed cases.
Jean A. Bilow, Jefferson County Public Health Service director, wouldn't divulge where the three new cases were within Jefferson County, but said they involve two children and an adult. Both children have fully recovered at home, and the adult is still recovering.
Indian River Central School District Superintendent James Kettrick said none of Thursday's confirmed cases was related to the school district's students, faculty or staff. Three of Wednesday's cases were from that district.
Miss Bilow said she believes nine confirmed swine flu cases are only the beginning.
"I'd say we're going to see additional cases," she said. "H1N1 is a seasonal flu, and with this particular outbreak, individuals really need to behave in the same manner they would if they wanted to prevent getting the regular flu."
In Geneva, a pandemic declaration by U.N. health officials was expected to speed vaccine production and spur government spending to combat the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.
Thursday's announcement by the World Health Organization doesn't mean the virus is any more lethal — only that its spread is considered unstoppable.
Since it was first detected in late April in Mexico and the United States, swine flu has reached 74 countries, infecting nearly 29,000 people. Most who catch the bug have only mild symptoms and don't need medical treatment.
WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan made the long-awaited declaration after the U.N. agency held an emergency meeting with flu experts and said she was moving to phase 6 — the agency's highest alert level — which means a pandemic is under way.
"The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," Chan said in Geneva.
Worldwide, swine flu has caused 144 deaths, compared with ordinary flu that kills up to 500,000 people a year.
The pandemic decision might have been made much earlier if WHO had more accurate information about swine flu's rising sweep through Europe. Chan said she called the emergency meeting with flu experts after concerns were raised that some countries, such as Britain, were not accurately reporting their cases.
Many health experts said the world has been in a pandemic for weeks but WHO became too bogged down by politics to declare one. In May, several countries urged WHO not to declare a pandemic, fearing it would cause social and economic turmoil. At the time, WHO said it would rewrite its pandemic definition to avoid announcing one.
But with the recent surge in cases across Europe, Chile, Australia and Japan, the agency was under increasing pressure to acknowledge a pandemic.
As of Thursday, the state Department of Health reported the number of confirmed H1N1 influenza cases in the state, outside of New York City, increased by 50 cases to 471.
Miss Bilow said the fact that a pandemic has been declared doesn't mean any procedures the public health agency has been following will change. The Public Health Service will follow the same procedure it has since the state has been under heightened surveillance, and help to determine whether certain specimens should go to the Wadsworth State Laboratory, Albany.
It takes 24 to 48 hours for the lab to determine whether the specimens are positive for H1N1 influenza. After the lab notifies the county public health agency, agency staff will informed the infected person.
"The local public health has an active surveillance going on," Miss Bilow said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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U.S. Centers for disease control and prevention: www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
