Is the flu in your school?

[Jacquipals]

Hey fellow school nurses,

Just curious if students/teachers have been diagnosed with the flu and how you've handled it with other parents/staff. I've had a bunch of kids whose parents have diagnosed them with the flu but that's not exactly the same thing !

[cooties_are_real]

We were hit before the Christmas Break on our JR High Campus, but doing better now. Not sure about our elementary or Kinder.

One thing I do know is people need to stay home!!! My mom is currently in the hospital with pneumonia and type b flu (oh, and is battling stage 4 lung cancer on chemo). My sister told me one of mom's friends was over last week sick and what makes me made is......HE KNOWS MOM IS TAKING CHEMO!!!!!! I'm fuming. I'm 500 miles away and can't do anything.

[BeckyESRN]

Thanks for all the input. It's here in my school and growing. Already clusters in certain rooms. Poor kiddos!

If you've not done so already, check with your custodial staff and let them know about the clusters of illness. We have a HALO system that they use when we have high numbers of illness.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

Thanks for all the input. It's here in my school and growing. Already clusters in certain rooms. Poor kiddos!

I just upped an order of hand sanitizer after learning most of our classrooms are out and receiving my 7th confirmed influenza case. Nothing to panic about (7 out of 500 with a pretty decent flu vaccination rate), but sinks aren't always available so I'll do all I can for cleaner hands.

[scout mom]

I've sent home letter regarding symptoms and when/how long to keep a kid home. I've also sent an email to all staff to please keep in mind that they are sending kids to me that spilled milk on themselves & only need parents called while there are kids in there with ILI. I also told teachers that if there is a ILI kid in my office that I will place a red "frowny" face in my window and kids shouldn't come in unless there's an emergency or scheduled med. I want to limit exposure as much as I can & this is going well so far.

[raidermom]

It hit both my schools in December and we had 45 diagnosed cases at one school and 43 diagnosed at the other with a student body of 134 and 122. That was teachers and students. We have recently had a few more diagnosed these past 2 weeks. Our state is telling us that we haven't hit peak yet.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

Odd thing: two separate families, two kids, afebrile here, only symptom was robust cough. Both positive for influenza B. Still afebrile today according to parents (but the parents kept the kids home!!!)

[Farawyn]

28 cases in January, and we haven't hit peak yet in the NE.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

28 cases in January, and we haven't hit peak yet in the NE.

Yep, I hate February and March.

[Farawyn]

Yep, I hate February and March.

"THEY" said this is the worst flu season in 10 years.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

Teacher (passing me in the hall): "Hey, do we have a lot of flu in school?"

I started laughing because I thought he was kidding me but he really wanted to know.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

Mom sent in 2nd grader 1 day post Tamiflu, 5 days post diagnosis. Poor guy was a dish rag. Explained that, although he isn't infectious, he still will have symptoms for a few more days to week and he is in no mood for learning. Used the opportunity to educate that, had he been vaccinated, he would be feeling much better now.

[Farawyn]

The GOOD thing?

No one is lingering in my office.