Flu guidance for families  

ALBANY, N.Y. (December 10, 2009) -- The City School District of Albany continues to remind families about practices to help reduce the spread of flu and steps to take to address flu-like symptoms.

"We are doing everything vigilantly to maintain an appropriate environment for our students, staff and school community in accordance with the guidance of the state and county health departments," said Jay A. Kravitz, M.D., the district's physician.

Health officials indicate that the vast majority of flu-like illness circulating at this time is H1N1. The district's Health Services staff has received several reports of students hospitalized with flu-like symptoms, and several schools experienced absentee rates of more than 20 percent in October and early November.

The Health Services staff will continue to work closely with the county health department and the New York State Health Department to monitor flu conditions, and will follow their guidance as the district makes decisions about the best steps to take concerning schools. 

Following is additional information from the county health department, Dr. Kravitz and the district's Health Services staff:

• The district's custodial staff has increased cleaning efforts in prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms, with particular attention being given to shared toys.

• Students and staff with flu-like symptoms are required to stay home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication.

  • Students using a nebulizer should be stable out of school for at least three days without a fever before returning to school with or without use of the nebulizer.

• Students returning after absences due to flu-like symptoms will be screened by the nurse.

The district asks that families take the following steps to help reduce the spread of flu:

• Know the signs and symptoms of influenza. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache and feeling very tired.  Some people may also have nausea or vomiting and not everyone will have fever.

• Keep sick children home while they have flu symptoms and for 24 hours after the fever goes away, without the use of fever-reducing medicine.  Keeping sick students at home means that they keep their viruses to themselves rather than sharing them with others.

• Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water. You can set a good example by doing this yourself. 

• Teach your children to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. Give them tissues to use. When tissues are not available, teach them to cover up their cough or sneezes by using the inside of their elbow or arm instead of their hands.

• Teach your children not to share personal items like toothbrushes, drinks, food or unwashed utensils.

• If your child has chronic health problems and displays flu-like symptoms, contact your health-care provider immediately. Your provider may decide to order an antiviral medication for your child.

• Speak to your health-care provider about vaccine for both the seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 flu when vaccine becomes available. A flu vaccine is the single best way to protect against influenza illness.

  • Seasonal flu is the typical flu that is seen during yearly flu seasons. It is still early in the flu season and there is time to receive the vaccine. Currently many doctors are experiencing a delay in receiving shipments of the seasonal flu vaccine, so please be patient. You may contact your health-care provider or visit www.albanycounty.com/health for more information about seasonal flu clinics.

  • 2009 H1N1 is the new flu strain. Children are considered a priority group and are strongly recommended to get this vaccine. Initially, the 2009 H1N1 vaccine will be available through health-care providers. The Albany County Department of Health is also planning to conduct community mass-vaccination clinics as soon as more 2009 H1N1 vaccine is available. The dates and locations of public H1N1 vaccination clinics will be widely publicized.

Throughout the flu season, students or staff that come to the health office with flu-like illness will be isolated and given masks to wear until they are able to go home. In addition, students found to have flu-like symptoms will be excluded from all after-school activities.

It is important for all parents and caregivers of our students to plan ahead for child care at home in case your child gets sick. If your child does get sick, monitor his or her health as well as the health of any other children in the household by checking for fever and other flu-like symptoms.

Please see the Seasonal and 2009 H1N1 Flu:  A Guide for Parents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that we have included with this letter.   We will continue to keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.

The mission of the City School District of Albany is to educate and nurture all students to be responsible citizens, critical thinkers and lifelong learners to successfully compete in the global community by providing an academically rigorous and safe environment in partnership with parents, students and the community. The district serves approximately 8,400 students in 16 elementary, middle and high schools. In addition to neighborhood schools, the district includes several magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative academic opportunities for students.