School Nurses: On the Frontline in the Battle Against Influenza

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

When students disembarked from the buses on the first day of school this year, their backpacks were filled, not just with pencils, paper, and books but also with facial tissues, hand sanitizers, and perhaps even a few face masks. Along with the students and teachers, flu is expected at the school this fall.

Schools are particularly vulnerable to transmission of infection, such as influenza. Children are more prone to becoming ill with the flu, and when they do, they shed more virus than adults, presenting more opportunities to infect another person. Close quarters in schools are an almost insurmountable problem. Students stand in crowds waiting for the doors to open, they are packed into auditoriums during assemblies, and they have close physical contact during gym class. Students work and eat in groups, sharing supplies and food. Many students have chronic medical conditions (asthma, diabetes) that elevate their risk for influenza. Put all of these factors together, add a new, virulent, highly transmissible virus, and...

Read the remainder here: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/708655?src=mp&spon=24&uac=87363SX

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