H1N1 Flu Information

HEALTH NOTES REGARDING THE UPCOMING FLU SEASON 

As you know, FLU can be easily spread from person to person. We are taking steps at Canisius High School to reduce the spread of flu but we need your help. We want to keep the school open to students and functioning in a normal manner this flu season. We will work closely with the Erie County Health Department and the New York State Health Department to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning our school. We will keep you updated with any new information as it becomes available.

If the flu becomes more severe, we may need to take additional steps to limit its spread such as:

· Conduct active fever and flu symptom screenings of students and staff as they arrive at school.

· Make changes to increase space between people such as moving desks farther apart and postponing school-sponsored trips.

· Dismiss students from school for at least 7 days if they become sick.

For now we are doing everything we can to keep our school functioning as usual. Here are a few things you can do to help.

· Remind your child to wash their hands often with soap and water or alcohol based sanitizers. This is important especially before lunch.

· Remind your child to not share personal items such as drinks or food. They should cover their coughs and sneeze into tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve if a tissue is unavailable.

· Know the symptoms of the flu. Symptoms include a fever of 100 degrees or greater, cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.

· Do not send your child to school if they are sick. Keep your child at home until they are fever free without fever reducing medication for 24 hours.

· Get your child a flu shot and the H1N1 flu shots when available.For more information visit www.flu.gov or call 1800-CDC-INFO.

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm

http://www.nyhealth.gov/diseases/communicable/influenza/seasonal/swine_flu/index.htm

http://www.flustar.com

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/freeresources/2009-10/pdf/what_to_do_if_you_get_sick.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-inact-h1n1.pdf

http://www.schoolhealthservicesny.com/uploads/H1N1%20October%2019%2009.pdfhttp://schoolhealthservices.org/uploads/H1N1%20November%209%2009.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/AsthmaH1N1/