September 9, 2009
H1N1 Letter to Parents
To Parents and Guardians of HTS Students:
In the spring of 2009, a new flu strain
(known as pandemic influenza A/H1N1 or swine flu)
appeared and quickly spread throughout the United
States. Schools in Pennsylvania were impacted and
a number had to close briefly due to the virus spreading
so quickly. With the cooperation of our parents, we
were able to minimize the overall impact of the flu
virus.
Over the course of the summer, this new flu strain
continued to produce illness in Pennsylvania, although
not at the levels witnessed in May and June.
To combat this new flu strain, we plan
to continue many of the measures previously put in
place to protect your children. Additionally, new
guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) now stipulates that a student
with the flu will need to stay home until they are
fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of
fever-reducing medications (Tylenol, Motrin, etc.).
In most cases, this would be anywhere from three to
five days where your child would be kept home from
school.
Your school will be taking steps to reduce the spread
of infections like the flu. Frequent hand washing
will be encouraged, and surfaces that are frequently
touched or handled will be regularly cleaned and disinfected.
If a child is sick, he or she will be moved to a sick
room designated by the school, and you will be contacted
to take your child home.
While school closure will remain an option, our current
recommendations are to take such an action only if
there is evidence that other measures are not working.
School districts will work closely with their local
and state health departments in making decisions.
Each situation will be individually evaluated to assure
the best course of action is taken to protect the
children and school staff as well as minimize the
burden and impact on affected families.
Many of you have questions about the availability
and use of vaccines. Recently, persons between ages
five and 24 were identified as a priority group to
receive the vaccine against the new flu strain. The
Department of Health estimates the first doses of
the new vaccine will be available in October and details
of distribution of the vaccine will be forthcoming.
We also expect to see illness due to the seasonal
(or regular) flu in the coming fall and winter. The
seasonal flu vaccine has been recommended for all
school-aged children and is especially important for
children with underlying health problems (like asthma
and diabetes), since these conditions increase the
risk for flu complications. Therefore, we encourage
all parents to have their children annually vaccinated
against seasonal flu. This vaccine will be available
in the early fall, but it will not protect against
the swine flu strain.
Information on the flu, and how you can protect your
family, is available at www.health.state.pa.us, www.cdc.gov
and www.flu.gov. For further information, contact
your child's school, your local health department,
the Pennsylvania Department of Health at 1-877-PA-HEALTH.
Your child's health and education are
very important, and we hope to partner with you during
the school year to assure that both are achieved at
the highest levels. Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Kimberly Stevenson
