McHenry School District 15 - H1N1 Influenza Information

Novel H1N1 (Swine Flu) Fall Vaccination
Plans for McHenry County Schools

Fall, 2009

Dear Parents,

The McHenry County Department of Health and Centegra Health System are concerned about your child’s health and the health of our community. We have partnered together to make the novel H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine available in your school as it becomes available. This voluntary vaccination is available and recommended for all children. A $15.00 fee is requested to cover the costs associated with providing the vaccination at school and is payable to Centegra Health System. Vaccine will be available for anyone who does not have the ability to pay this fee. At this time, it is not yet clear when Centegra will receive the vaccine to conduct the clinics. There will be a subsequent notification from us regarding when the clinic at your school will be held, along with the necessary consent form to allow your child to receive the vaccination.

Novel H1N1 (swine flu) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This virus is spreading from person-to-person similarly to the regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. Please note that the seasonal flu shot is not protective for novel H1N1 influenza. So far, with novel H1N1 flu, the largest number of confirmed and probable cases has occurred in people younger than 25 years of age. Schools are working closely with the Health Department and Centegra Health System to keep your child healthy and in school.

We encourage you and your child to take the following actions to stay healthy and keep others healthy:

COVER nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. THROW the tissue in the trash after use. If there is no tissue available, cough or sneeze into your elbow.
WASH your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. (Alcohol based hand cleaners work if there is no soap and water available.)
AVOID touching your eyes/nose/mouth. Germs spread that way!
STAY HOME if you get sick. Right now, the CDC says to stay home for 24 hours after you are fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications, such as Tylenol.
GET VACCINATED this is the best protection against getting or spreading novel H1N1 influenza.

The school will notify you when the vaccination clinic is scheduled. A consent form must be completed for each child receiving the vaccine. When the consent form arrives, read and review the information, complete the form and provide your authorization by signing the consent. The most current information from the CDC is that children 9 and under will need two vaccinations. Children over 10 will only need one vaccination. For current information about the novel H1N1 influenza virus, visit www.MCDH.info. For questions about vaccine availability, call 1-815-334-2800.

We are offering you this voluntary opportunity to have your child vaccinated at school as a convenience to you and to make the vaccine available to as many children as possible. H1N1 vaccine will also be available at the following places:

Most pediatric and family physicians
Most retail pharmacies
Community Clinics

Sincerely,

McHenry County Department of Health

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McHenry School District 15 and the McHenry County Department of Health are working together to take steps to reduce the spread of the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu.

The McHenry County Health Department has asked schools to conduct fever and symptom screening of students and staff who are ill.

Any parent who calls the school stating that their child has a fever of 100 degrees or above will need to speak with the nurse/health assistant in that school. Parents will also be asked if their student has a cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose or body aches. This data is sent to the Health Department on a daily basis.
If a student becomes ill at school with a fever and any of the above symptoms, the student will be isolated from other students until someone is able to pick him/her up from school.
Hand gel is provided in all our classrooms.
Signs have been posted to remind students, staff and visitors to wash their hands and of coughing etiquette.
Hand hygiene instruction is being provided in the classrooms if not addressed last year.
Although environmental cleaning is not the primary focus of influenza prevention, District 15 is proactive in cleaning our schools. Areas that students touch frequently are routinely cleaned with an EPA approved germicide product.

Please keep your child home if he/she has a respiratory illness with a fever of 100 degrees or more and recent onset of one of the following: nasal congestion, sore throat and/or cough. They must stay home until they are fever free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.

Steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of acquiring the flu are as follows:

Try to stay in good health.
Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids and eat nutritious foods.
Avoid close contact with people who are ill.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
Cough into your elbow.
Wash your hands with soap and water, especially when you cough or sneeze.

The administration of District 15 understands the concern of many parents regarding the transmission of illness in our schools. Please do not send hand sanitizer with your students to school. The school district is providing it under direct teacher supervision in order to meet the health and safety guidelines of the Center for Disease Control. Hand sanitizers that are used in a school must have a Material Safety Data Sheet in the school outlining the chemicals and emergency procedures in the event of an accidental misuse of the product.

McHenry School District 15 is aware of the situation with the swine flu and our custodians are disinfecting our schools during the day and in the evening.

"Questions and Answers" about the Swine flu

Preguntas y Respuestas sobre la Influenza Porcina en Español