Students staying home in droves with flu-like symptoms (TX)

[HenryN]

Students staying home in droves with flu-like symptoms

One in five high schoolers afflicted; officials aren't sure whether flu's to blame.

By Mary Ann Roser
AMERICAN-STATESMAN CORRESPONDENT
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
One of every five students at Taylor High School in Williamson County has been hit by flu or a flu-like illness, school officials said, prompting the district to send a letter to parents Monday asking that ill kids be kept home.
"If your child has any of the typical cold and flu symptoms, please be on the safe side and keep them home for now," says the letter from the superintendent's office. "We are attempting to slow the spread as much as possible."
On Monday, 168 kids called in sick in the Taylor district, almost all of them Taylor High School students reporting similar complaints — "fever, chills, body aches, flu-like symptoms," said Sally Naivar, nurse coordinator for the district. Tests have not been conducted to confirm that the students have flu, but Naivar said the cases were being reported as "flu-like illness." Other flu symptoms include sniffles, a headache, cough and scratchy throat.
Monday's absences came after 198 pupils in the 3,000-student district called in sick Friday; 114 were out on Thursday, district spokesman Larry Robbins said. Almost all of the sick students were at the high school, with a few at the three elementary schools and the middle school, Naivar said.
The absences represent a "15 percent to 18 percent drop in students, plus 16 teachers," Robbins said. "It's very significant."
The onset is fast, too. Children were developing fevers at school and spreading the sickness, Robbins said.
Flu season, which peaks in January and February in Texas, has been light so far.
Jennifer Jackson, director of nursing for the Williamson County and Cities Health District, said she did not know of any significant reports of flu elsewhere in the county. Testing would be needed to confirm flu in Taylor, she said.
An Austin school district spokeswoman said she had not heard of higher-than-normal absences in the district. And Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said she was not aware of any flu-induced school closures.
Doctors are concerned because one of the key flu strains this season is resistant to oseltamivir (marketed as Tamiflu), a prescription anti-viral drug, said Dr. Pat Crocker, chief of emergency medicine at Dell Children's Medical Center.
Anti-viral drugs can shorten flu by a day and a half, but Tamiflu should be started within 24 to 48 hours of onset to be worth the expense or potential side effects, Crocker said.
The best weapons, he said, are hand washing and a flu shot.
maroser@statesman.com; 445-3619

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...3/0113flu.html

[HenryN]

Flu hits hard at Central Texas school


05:34 PM CST on Monday, January 12, 2009


By AMY JOHNSTON
KVUE News

Video

January 12th, 2009 KVUE's Amy Johnston reports


The flu left some classrooms in Taylor a little emptier Monday. Taylor High School officials say dozens of students have had to stay home because of the flu. All day Monday, a steady stream of parents arrived at Taylor High School to pick up sick kids.
"She was just feeling nauseous and dizzy. Not feeling good at all. You know? Very weak," says Daniel Zavala, who was picking-up his daughter.
School officials do know. They've heard those same symptoms over and over -- 168 students were sick out Monday. That's about 20 percent of the student body. While the number of student absent on Monday seems quite high, it was actually worse last week. On Friday, 198 kids were sick. And students aren't the only ones affected. On Monday, 16 teachers and staff members also called in sick.
Monday, the school sent home a letter to parents saying, in part, if your child has any of the typical cold and flu symptoms, please be on the safe side and keep them home for now.
The idea is to slow the spread as much as possible.
"I worry. Hopefully it doesn't go to the other elementaries or Northside School because those are more littler kids and their systems are not that immune yet," says another parent.
No other schools have reported excessive absences.
The Texas Department of State Health Services keeps track of flu cases throughout the state, and so far, there's no part of the region suffering from a serious outbreak of the virus.

http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories....1b24d634.html

[HenryN]

Flu Season Hits Taylor High School

Last Edited: Monday, 12 Jan 2009, 9:32 PM CST

Created: Monday, 12 Jan 2009, 5:47 PM CST

Flu Spreads Across Taylor HS TAYLOR -- Nearly 20 percent of Taylor High School is out sick today. Williamson County and Austin/Travis County Health Departments are saying they're seeing the early stages of the flu in the area. Administrators say they can't remember seeing a flu season like this. Taylor High School had 168 students calling in sick today – that's 18 percent of the student body. Twenty percent of the staff are out, too. FOX 7's Keri Bellacosa is in Taylor with more on this story. SideBar Related Items Stories Flu Epidemic Spreads through Taylor High School Videos http://www.myfoxaustin.com/myfox/pag...Y&pageId=3.2.1

[HenryN]

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01...74Y_TX_HS.html

[HenryN]

http://www.taylorisd.org/CMS/images/.../fluseason.pdf

Date:	January 12,2009
To:	THS Students / Parents
From:	Office of the Superintendent
Subject:	Flu Bug Biting THS Hard!!

THS parents and students should be aware that the cold and fl u season is upon us and is especially hitting hard at Taylor High School.
School officials began to notice significant absences late last week and today absenteeism was at 168 students and 16 teachers and staff. There were 198 students out Friday, so this bug has already struck one in five students!
THS nurse Debbie Powell is asking all parents to evaluate your children before you send them to school. This particular strain appears to be fast moving with students feeling poorly early on and then developing a temperature later the same day.
If your child has any of the typical cold and flu symptoms, please be on the safe side and
keep them home for now. We are attempting to slow the spread as much as possible.
THS Principal Kimberley Mason reminds all students to use the hand sanitizers and Clorox wipes that are located in each classroom. Students should not be sharing food or
drinks at this time!
Again, typical attendance rates at THS near 96% daily and the absences attributed to this
cold and flu season are significant. Please take all possible precautions!
Please continue to watch the THS website for additional information or details at
www.taylol'isd.org/CMS/
.

[AlaskaDenise]

Originally Posted by niman

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01...74Y_TX_HS.html

Commentary Flu Outbreak at Texas High School Raises Concerns Recombinomics Commentary 18:40 January 13, 2009 Taylor High School had 168 students calling in sick today – that's 18 percent of the student body. Twenty percent of the staff are out, too. The above comments describe an influenza like illness at a high school in central Texas that is likely to be Tamiflu resistant H1N1. All influenza sub-typed to date in Texas has been H1N1. Moreover sequences from H1N1 isolates in Texas match H1N1 in Sendai, Japan where the virus forced the closing of 10 elementary schools. Similarly, Tamiflu resistant H1N1 caused school closings in another prefecture. Moreover, South Korea is reporting an explosion of H1N1 cases, and 16/17 tested H1N1 isolates have H274Y. The frequency of illness continues to grow in Korea and is already nearly double the rate of the peak week last season. In the United States the flu season is just beginning to grow, and most of the flu in the United States is H1N1. The school closings in Japan, coupled with the explosion of cases In Korea and the above high school raise concerns because the H1N1 is Tamiflu resistant and the three changes flanking the receptor binding domain are not in the current H1N1 Brisbane/59 vaccine.. .

[AlaskaDenise]

Are you saying that the resistance change plus 3 changes near the RBD, change the virus to the point where the virulence increases because it's more similar to a novel antigen? How many changes are needed before existing (whether from prior infections or vaccinations) antibodies have decreased effectiveness, despite being the "same" strain?

.

[HenryN]

Originally Posted by AlaskaDenise

Are you saying that the resistance change plus 3 changes near the RBD, change the virus to the point where the virulence increases because it's more similar to a novel antigen? How many changes are needed before existing (whether from prior infections or vaccinations) antibodies have decreased effectiveness, despite being the "same" strain?

.

The virus can escape with ONE change.

[HenryN]

408 student absences in
three days

Flu-like symptoms hit schools hard

Last Edited: Tuesday, 13 Jan 2009, 2:53 PM EST
Created On: Tuesday, 13 Jan 2009, 2:52 PM EST

• Erin Cargile

TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) - The Taylor Independent School District has seen a dramatic drop in attendance due to flu-like symptoms hitting students and staff at an incredible rate. School officials noticed the change in attendance habits last Thursday with 114 absences. On Friday, the number swelled to 198 students, and Monday there were 168 students and 16 staff members out ill.
Of the 889 students at Taylor High School , there are 120 absent Tuesday. Administrators sent a letter home to all high school students and parents Monday requesting help to stop the spread of the flu-like virus. Taylor High School nurse Debbie Powell is asking all parents to evaluate their children before sending them to school.
The specific strain affecting the campus appears to be fast-moving. Students have been feeling poorly early on and then develop a temperature later the same day.
The district is asking parents to keep students at home until they have no temperature. There are 3,050 students district-wide.
Here is a video from the Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition answering common questions and dispelling myths about the flu vaccine:

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/nationa...00901132159640

[AlaskaDenise]

Originally Posted by niman

The virus can escape with ONE change.

Not very comforting, however true.

I've often wondered if the unintended consequence of widespread vaccination might be to speed up adaptation of one strain to the point where it would hasten the arrival of a new strain. It seems that no matter how high the vaccination rate, influenza proliferates in some form.

.

[HenryN]

Originally Posted by AlaskaDenise

Not very comforting, however true.

I've often wondered if the unintended consequence of widespread vaccination might be to speed up adaptation of one strain to the point where it would hasten the arrival of a new strain. It seems that no matter how high the vaccination rate, influenza proliferates in some form.

.

Chasing influenza is not a winning strategy.

[AlaskaDenise]

So you propose...

The recombination follows well defined rules which can be used to monitor the efficacy of new or modified vaccines. The rules can also be used to predict new variants, so vaccines can be developed before viruses emerge. The rules of recombination appear to apply to all viruses so viral vaccine strategies can be broadly applied.

from http://www.recombinomics.com/vaccine_development.html

Could the above slow down any jumps to new strains?

.

[HenryN]

Originally Posted by AlaskaDenise

So you propose...

from http://www.recombinomics.com/vaccine_development.html

Could the above slow down any jumps to new strains?

.

Jumps into an immunized host don't succeed.

[HenryN]

Taylor High School dealing with hundreds of sick calls

The Flu reaches many at Taylor High School

(AP) Classrooms at Taylor High School are much emptier this week. In the past four school days the high school has taken 630 sick calls for students with the flu or flu like symptoms. Typical attendance rates are around 96%. On Tuesday, 150 out of the nearly 900 students called in sick and the school nurse sent even more students home. The Superintendent sent out a warning to all parents about the fast moving strain, hoping to slow down the spread of the virus. Sitting in bed, 14-year-old Damion Alayon tries to catch up on homework, he's been out sick for the last two days. “Monday was just horrible,” Alayon said. “The second I woke up I had the chills, a horrible headache and I just felt sore all over.” At the freshman's high school, hundreds of other students have felt those same symptoms. “I’ve just never seen it come on so quick,” said the Taylor High School Nurse, Debbie Powell. Even Powell, came down with the flu, along with about 20 other teacher and staff members. “You really can't stop it,” Powell said. “I had the flu shot and still got it.” “If they're having cold or flu like symptoms, stay home and help us beat the spread of this thing,” said Taylor ISD Communications Director Larry Robbins. Concerned administrators are asking for help from parents to keep their sick teens home until they don't have a temperature and for students to avoid sharing food or drinks. But if you have it as good as Damion, with a doting mom to deliver bed side service of her homemade chicken soup, then staying home sick from school, may not seem that bad. “She’s been really good to me,” Damion said about his mother. Damion hopes to return back to school by Wednesday. Taylor ISD is monitoring all five of its campuses. But right now, Taylor High School is the only school with significant absences from students. The peak of the flu season starts in late January and February. The Texas Department of Health says it's still not too late to get a flu shot. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to become effective. http://www.keyetv.com/news/local/sto...w.cspx?rss=909

[HenryN]

Taylor High School hit hard by illness that looks like flu

By Mary Ann Roser | Monday, January 12, 2009, 03:25 PM
After scores of absences in three days, Taylor school district officials are sending a letter home to parents Monday telling them to keep kids home if they have cold or flu symptoms.
On Monday, 168 kids called in sick, most of them Taylor High School students reporting similar-sounding ailments — “fever, chills, body aches, flu-like symptoms,” said Sally Naivar, nurse coordinator for the district. Tests have not been conducted to confirm that students have flu, but Naivar said the cases were being reported as “flu-like illness.”
The absences come after 198 pupils in the 3,000-student Williamson County district called in sick Friday and 114 were out on Thursday. Again, most of the students were at the high school, with a few at the three elementary and lone middle school, Naivar said.
The absences represent a “15 percent to 18 percent drop in students plus 16 teachers,” said district spokesman Larry Robbins. “It’s very significant.”
The illness is fast-acting, too. Children were developing fevers at school and spreading the sickness, prompting the letter to parents.
“We don’t need to spread it any more than it has,” Robbins said, adding that the letter would be posted later today on the district’s Web site.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...t_hard_by.html

[HenryN]

DELL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL TO OFFER THS AND LOCAL CHILDREN FREE FLU VACCINATIONS

In an attempt to help Taylor High School students beat the flu bug this year, Dell Children's Hospital has announced plans to send staff to THS on Wednesday, January 21st to provide FREE flu mists and vaccinations to Taylor children, ages 6 months to 18 years of age. Parents must accompany children for the vaccine between 2-7 p.m. in THS cafeteria and all THS students under 18 must have a signed parental consent. More information is available by calling 352-1016. The THS "flu-like" bug that impacted student and staff at a 1-in-5 clip has begun to lessen its grip on the campus. Current numbers impacted by the sickness are down 60%. FREE FLU VACCINE

http://www.taylorisd.org/CMS/index.p...=com_frontpage