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October 2008 |
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'Tis the season for colds and flu |
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Thursday, 21 February 2008 |
 By ELLEN MORTENSEN
Chief Managing Editor
It is that time of year - when sneezes, sniffles and coughs tend to fill the air just about everywhere we go. It is no secret that children have a high rate of spreading illness, and the younger the kids the greater the risk of spreading germs from one to the other.
Even though most schools notice a slight decline in attendance due to illness during this time of year each year, this year seems to have hit some schools particularly hard. Perhaps one of the hardest hit schools in the area has been at Thedford.
“We are a small school of less than 100 students,” said Thedford Superintendent Henry Eggert. “A couple of weeks ago we had more than 25 percent of our student population out sick.”
Eggert says that was enough of a decline to prompt the school to take serious action in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.
“We came to school on a Monday and had that many students gone, so we decided to close school Tuesday and Wednesday,” Eggert explained.
He says it was the hope of the school administration that having those days off would provide the students with a chance to rest and recuperate. While the school has continued to see some absenteeism due to illness since taking the days off, it has not been in the large numbers like they were seeing prior to the break.
“We would like to think those two days off was the factor in fewer kids being out sick,” says Eggert. “But we don’t have anything to substantiate that.”
Sue McNeil, superintendent of Anselmo-Merna Schools, says her school has also seen a high number of students staying home sick the past few weeks. She says with there being no school on Friday, staff at the school was in hopes the three-day weekend would help.
However, McNeil says the school had 15 students from each the high school and elementary school out sick on Monday, and three staff members also sick.
“Everyone is just so busy. I’m sure most of those kids didn’t just stay home all weekend, with ballgames and things going on,” said McNeil. “The problem is people don’t slow down and give themselves a chance to get over it.
“We have tried disinfecting, but the minute someone sneezes or coughs we are right back to square one,” McNeil says.
She says this year’s “bug” seems to be a little worse than in years past, as it lingers for a long time.
That thought was also shared by Callaway Schools Superintendent Pat Osmond. He says his school has seen a steady stream of sick kids, and it has been going on for a long time. However, Osmond says the school has not had enough out sick all at once to consider closing school.
Like the Callaway school, Sargent Public School has seen it’s share of sick kids but not enough to warrant drastic action, according to Principal Korey Kitt.
“The most we have had at one time has been 14 percent of our kids,” Kitt explains.
He says the rule of thumb recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services is if 20 percent or more of the student body is out, calling school should be considered. Kitt says that while many kids have been sick, only one or two of his staff members have been affected.
Mike McCabe, superintendent of both Ansley and Arcadia schools, says both schools have seen a definite increase in students gone from class, but the numbers haven’t been high enough to cause concern. McCabe says with the shortage of available substitute teachers, keeping the staff healthy becomes a real concern.
In Broken Bow the brunt of the sickness went through the school a couple of weeks ago, according to Middle School/High School Principal Ken Kujath.
“The biggest thing we have seen is that kids stay home and get better, and then come back to school and get sick again,” said Kujath. “Fortunately we didn’t have a lot of illness go through the staff.”
Kujath says there is no policy in place at the school as far as percentages of students out sick and calling off school.
“You might have 25 percent of your kids gone, but then you still have 75 percent of them at school,” Kujath explains. “As long as we have enough staff to handle the classes we will have school.”
While some area schools have been hit hard with illness, a handful of schools report they have seen no more than normal for this season. Mike Harvey, principal of Arnold Public School says he thinks the number of students out sick this year has probably been a little less than last year, and he has had only a couple of staff members out.
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller schools have also been lucky in terms of illness.
“We have not been hit real hard - at least not yet,” reported SEM school secretary Heather Nichols.
So if you happen to be the parents of one of the many sick children, or sick yourself, you may be wondering just what you can do. The bad news is - not much.
According to Mark Haynes with Central Nebraska Medical Clinic in Broken Bow, about the only thing you can do to treat influenza is treat the symptoms. Haynes says the best remedy is lots of rest, lots of fluids and Tylenol or Ibuprofen for the symptoms.
“There isn’t really an antibiotic that will help with influenza,” says Haynes.
He reports the clinic has seen an increase in the number of patients this year over last year, and they have seen more actual influenza that in the past.
“We start out seeing the kinds, and then it moves to the parents and teachers,” Haynes said.
Haynes also noted an increase in the number of strep throat cases this winter.
Doctors at the clinic have been prescribing Tamiflu, if the flu symptoms are caught early enough. Haynes says in order for the medication to be effective the patient must be treated before any fever, nausea or vomiting has set in.
“This may be a little stronger strain of flu than we have seen in the past,” says Haynes, explaining why the symptoms seem to persist so long. Several school administrators report that while they may not be seeing an increase in the number of students absent with illness, those who are sick seem to be staying sick longer this year.
Experts agree that frequent hand washing is one of the most important steps we can take in keeping ourselves from getting sick or passing it on to someone else. Just as Haynes said, though we have all heard it a thousand times, get lots of rest and drink lots of fluids. And a healthy dose of grandma’s chicken soup would not hurt either. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 February 2008 )
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