Amherst High student dies after 'brief illness'
By Peter Simon
<!-- Begin /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_creditline_with_dash.comp -->News Staff Reporter
<!-- End /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_creditline_with_dash.comp -->Updated: November 02, 2009, 5:24 PM /
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An Amherst High School student died Sunday morning following "a brief illness," Amherst Superintendent Laura K. Chabe said today.
The girl has been identified at Chelsea Oliver, 15.
However, both Chabe and a spokesman for the Erie County Health Department said they are prohibited by federal privacy laws from discussing specifics of the illness, or from identifying the student.
School officials conferred with Health Department representatives after the death to make sure they had been and were continuing to follow proper procedures to limit the spread of both seasonal and H1N1 flu. It was determined that the procedures are and were proper, Chabe said.
On Sunday evening, Chabe sent automated phone calls to about about 3,000 parents, faculty and staff in the school district.
"We are very sad to inform you that following a brief illness one of our high school students passed away Sunday morning," Chabe said in the phone call. "It's a very sad day in our district and community, and our condolences go out to the family and friends of our student."
She also said school officials have been in touch with Health Department officials, "and have been assured that it is safe for your children to be in school."
Chabe this morning described the mood of the district as "very solemn, as you would imagine." She said she had not yet received a report on attendance today at the high school, which is located at 4301 Main Street.
Asked about the cause of death, Chabe replied: "We don't know the cause of death. I don't know if we ever will."
Even if the the cause of death were known, federal privacy rules would prevent her from revealing those and other details, Chabe said.
The Health Department also is bound by those privacy rules, said Kevin
Montgomery, a spokesman for the Erie County Health Department.
"We can only tell people what we usually tell them" about taking precautions to prevent the spread of the flu, Montgomery said.
In more general terms, 15 school districts in Erie County last week reported increases in flu-like illnesses among students, nine reported decreases and five said they were holding steady, Montgomery said.
School districts hit hard by the flu are reporting absenteeism rates of more than 20 percent, Montgomery said.
When the flu is prevalent in a particular school, it generally spikes for about a week before receding, he added.
Two Buffalo students died of the H1N1 flu virus last June.
Nationally, there were 292 laboratory-confirmed H1N1 deaths between August 2009 and Oct. 10, 2009, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By Peter Simon
<!-- Begin /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_creditline_with_dash.comp -->News Staff Reporter
<!-- End /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_creditline_with_dash.comp -->Updated: November 02, 2009, 5:24 PM /
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An Amherst High School student died Sunday morning following "a brief illness," Amherst Superintendent Laura K. Chabe said today.
The girl has been identified at Chelsea Oliver, 15.
However, both Chabe and a spokesman for the Erie County Health Department said they are prohibited by federal privacy laws from discussing specifics of the illness, or from identifying the student.
School officials conferred with Health Department representatives after the death to make sure they had been and were continuing to follow proper procedures to limit the spread of both seasonal and H1N1 flu. It was determined that the procedures are and were proper, Chabe said.
On Sunday evening, Chabe sent automated phone calls to about about 3,000 parents, faculty and staff in the school district.
"We are very sad to inform you that following a brief illness one of our high school students passed away Sunday morning," Chabe said in the phone call. "It's a very sad day in our district and community, and our condolences go out to the family and friends of our student."
She also said school officials have been in touch with Health Department officials, "and have been assured that it is safe for your children to be in school."
Chabe this morning described the mood of the district as "very solemn, as you would imagine." She said she had not yet received a report on attendance today at the high school, which is located at 4301 Main Street.
Asked about the cause of death, Chabe replied: "We don't know the cause of death. I don't know if we ever will."
Even if the the cause of death were known, federal privacy rules would prevent her from revealing those and other details, Chabe said.
The Health Department also is bound by those privacy rules, said Kevin
Montgomery, a spokesman for the Erie County Health Department.
"We can only tell people what we usually tell them" about taking precautions to prevent the spread of the flu, Montgomery said.
In more general terms, 15 school districts in Erie County last week reported increases in flu-like illnesses among students, nine reported decreases and five said they were holding steady, Montgomery said.
School districts hit hard by the flu are reporting absenteeism rates of more than 20 percent, Montgomery said.
When the flu is prevalent in a particular school, it generally spikes for about a week before receding, he added.
Two Buffalo students died of the H1N1 flu virus last June.
Nationally, there were 292 laboratory-confirmed H1N1 deaths between August 2009 and Oct. 10, 2009, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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