Local News
HISD sees decrease in flu after closure
After a two-day closure due to an increase in flu-related absences among its students and staff, Huntsville Independent School District opened its doors Thursday to a significant decrease in absences.
“Things do seem better,” HISD Assistant Superintendent John DeBrock said. “The number of absences is significantly lower than what they have been.”
At the close of the school day Thursday, DeBrock reported districtwide absences at 794 students — almost 100 fewer students than the 885 absences reported Monday.
“We are still checking temperatures of students at Sam Houston Elementary and Mance Park Middle School, where Monday’s absences were so high,” DeBrock said. “But things are going so well that we may not have to do that much longer.”
HISD began monitoring the flu situation almost two weeks ago, when illness-related absences at Stewart Elementary School hit near the 30 percent mark.
The district took immediate action, following a policy that sent students home for at least five days if they ran a temperature of 100 or higher and exhibited flu-like symptoms.
Extra sanitization measures were also taken at the campus.
“We are screening all students for fever,” HISD Superintendent Dr. Richard Montgomery said last week, “and we are bringing in air purification machines for the campus.”
While the number of absences at Stewart improved last week, things took a turn for the worse Monday when districtwide student absences reached a total of 885 — or 14 percent — of the district’s 6,284 students.
In hopes of slowing the spread of illness, HISD officials closed all campuses Tuesday and Wednesday and canceled extracurricular activities. School opened as scheduled on Thursday.
“We really want to emphasize to parents that students be fever free for an entire 24 hours without medications before they return to school,” DeBrock said Wednesday, citing an updated Texas Department of State Health Services recommendation. “At that point, the risk in spreading the virus is very low.”
Vista Academy of Huntsville also closed its doors for two days this week, reporting about 10 percent of its 247 students absent on Monday.
“We pretty much follow whatever HISD does, usually closing when they do,” school principal Lisa Branch said. “Today we are much better — only six students are absent.”
With surrounding districts seeing higher numbers of sick students, Trinity ISD Superintendent Dr. Bobby Rice reported only 6 percent of their students absent on Monday.
“We are continuing to do well,” Rice said.
Proper hygiene — such as the washing of hands an covering one mouth when coughing or sneezing — as well as receiving a flu vaccination are the most emphasized methods in the prevention of the spread of the flu.
The DSHS recommends that children 9 years old and under who have never had the flu shot receive two regular flu shots and two H1N1 shots; that those 10 years old and under who have had a flu shot before get one regular flu shot and two H1N1 shots; and that everyone over 10 years old get one regular flu shot and one H1N1 shot.
Supplies of the H1N1 flu vaccine are expected to arrive in Texas in mid-October.
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