Update on schools and the flu

Rockville Centre schools physician, Dr. Mark Sperber, was joined at the Sept. 22 school board meeting by the district’s nurse practitioner, Tara Algerio-Vento, to present a brief update on guidelines for dealing with the H1N1 flu.
Emphasizing that recommendations they receive have been changing frequently, they said the anxiety level should now be lower because the novel virus is no different than other flu viruses — it is not more severe than the regular seasonal flu. It may become more widespread though, because many populations do not have immunity. The schools will see absences, they said, and the district is planning for that.
Current guidelines call for students to stay home until they go 24 hours without fever or other symptoms.
Sperber said it is very important for people to get vaccinated for both the seasonal and the H1N1 influenza when they can, and that at the first sign of symptoms, they should contact their doctors.
In the elementary schools, said Algerio-Vento, nurses will be going into classrooms to teach good hygiene — frequent hand washing, how to do that, and the best way to sneeze (into the crook of an arm). The middle school’s news will cover information about the flu and at the high school, students will be able to watch a humorous video on how best to sneeze and cough.
For updated information about the school district’s response to the flu, visit its Web site, www.rvcschools.org.