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Windsor wary of H1N1 flu virus Part 1
Schools tell parents to keep sick kids at home, flu clinic draws a crowd
by Nathan Wright
Staff Writer
An early flu season has Windsor school officials asking parents to keep sick kids at home as absences spiked in the town’s public schools.
Flu outbreaks flared up at campuses throughout the Windsor Unified School District in October and some of the sick kids were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as the swine flu.
“We have an increased level of absences of about 25 or 30 percent over last year,” said district superintendent Steven Herrington. “Students have called in with flu like symptoms.”
Absences spiked at Brooks Elementary School earlier this month, but principal Shannyn Vehmeyer said the last two weeks have been normal. “The parents are saying that [the flu symptoms are] lasting longer than a flu of two days,” she said.
A few kids at Brooks were diagnosed with H1N1 but Vehmeyer said it’s difficult to know how many caught the virus. “The problem is that not everyone’s being diagnosed,” she said. “It’s not so bad as they need to go to the doctor’s, so some might have it and not be diagnosed with it.”
Mattie Washburn principal Benita Jones said there’s been some H1N1 reports at her school as well, but said attentive parents have helped stop the spread of any of the flu viruses going around. “We are seeing a definite rise in illness,” she said. “The parents have been very good at making sure the children are better before sending them back to school.”
At Cali Calmécac Language Academy one kindergarten teacher had 12 students out one day, prompting principal Chris Vanden Heuvel to send a letter home to parents assuring them precautions had been taken at the school and asking parents to keep their children home if they showed signs of illness. “It was a couple days and kids started trickling back in ok,” said Vanden Heuvel. “We only had one confirmed case of H1N1.”
Last Saturday the county held a drive-through H1N1 vaccination clinic at Windsor High School resulting in a nightmarish traffic problem. “It was just the perfect storm,” said Windsor High School Principal Marc Elin. “Obama comes out on Friday and talks about the national situation. Not all health care providers have the vaccine, and the county got all kinds of people referred by Kaiser. It was unfortunate.”
Windsor Police Chief Steve Freitas said the Windsor Police Department, working in partnership with the Town of Windsor’s traffic engineers, has created a traffic plan for future clinics. In addition to a more controlled traffic pattern, the plan will eliminate the need to have cars sitting idle because participants will have to exit their vehicles in order to get the shot.
Flu outbreaks flared up at campuses throughout the Windsor Unified School District in October and some of the sick kids were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as the swine flu.
“We have an increased level of absences of about 25 or 30 percent over last year,” said district superintendent Steven Herrington. “Students have called in with flu like symptoms.”
Absences spiked at Brooks Elementary School earlier this month, but principal Shannyn Vehmeyer said the last two weeks have been normal. “The parents are saying that [the flu symptoms are] lasting longer than a flu of two days,” she said.
A few kids at Brooks were diagnosed with H1N1 but Vehmeyer said it’s difficult to know how many caught the virus. “The problem is that not everyone’s being diagnosed,” she said. “It’s not so bad as they need to go to the doctor’s, so some might have it and not be diagnosed with it.”
Mattie Washburn principal Benita Jones said there’s been some H1N1 reports at her school as well, but said attentive parents have helped stop the spread of any of the flu viruses going around. “We are seeing a definite rise in illness,” she said. “The parents have been very good at making sure the children are better before sending them back to school.”
At Cali Calmécac Language Academy one kindergarten teacher had 12 students out one day, prompting principal Chris Vanden Heuvel to send a letter home to parents assuring them precautions had been taken at the school and asking parents to keep their children home if they showed signs of illness. “It was a couple days and kids started trickling back in ok,” said Vanden Heuvel. “We only had one confirmed case of H1N1.”
Last Saturday the county held a drive-through H1N1 vaccination clinic at Windsor High School resulting in a nightmarish traffic problem. “It was just the perfect storm,” said Windsor High School Principal Marc Elin. “Obama comes out on Friday and talks about the national situation. Not all health care providers have the vaccine, and the county got all kinds of people referred by Kaiser. It was unfortunate.”
Windsor Police Chief Steve Freitas said the Windsor Police Department, working in partnership with the Town of Windsor’s traffic engineers, has created a traffic plan for future clinics. In addition to a more controlled traffic pattern, the plan will eliminate the need to have cars sitting idle because participants will have to exit their vehicles in order to get the shot.
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| Windsor wary of H1N1 flu virus Part 2 |
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