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TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--FRIDAY, AUGUST 21,
2009 Flu Advice as the New School Year Starts Next week the start of school in Texas brings with it increased chances of the spread of H1N1 flu among nearly six million students and school employees. A similar heightened risk of transmission affects students and staff in our institutions of higher education. Based on experience with the initial flu outbreak last spring, federal health officials are taking a calibrated approach to curbing the spread of this flu virus. They are counseling school administrators against hasty action to close schools, noting that the benefits of doing so may be outweighed by negative consequences, including students being left home alone, health workers staying home because their children have been sent home, students missing meals, and disruption of students' education. The federal health authorities also have issued two separate sets of recommendations for responding to a flu outbreak at a campus, depending on its severity. If an outbreak should become more severe than last spring, then suggested measures include active screening of students and staff for indications of illness, having high-risk individuals stay at home as a precaution, and having students stay at home for at least the first five days after a household member gets sick. A severe outbreak also could trigger a recommendation of preemptive school closings to block the disease's spread. For a full discussion of the federal guidance on coping with
both seasonal flu and the H1n1 flu in elementary and secondary
schools, check out this Web site: http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/schoolguidancepdf.pdf.
For flu guidance applicable to institutions of higher
education, see http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/higheredtechreport.html.
Also be on the lookout next week for additional guidance from
the American Federation of Teachers and Texas AFT. |
