Swine flu reaches Kanawha County schools

Kathryn Gregory

Aug. 7, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Piedmont Elementary School student has been diagnosed with swine flu, the first case of the pandemic flu in a Kanawha County school.

Piedmont, on Charleston's East End, is a year-round school, and students are in session there now.

Kanawha County students on the traditional school schedule return to classes Aug. 26, on the brink of what is expected to be a busy flu season.

Kanawha County education leaders do not have an official plan for what they will do if a massive outbreak of the flu were to hit the county's schools.

"Federal guidelines are that we don't close a school right away, especially with isolated cases," said schools superintendent Ron Duerring. "We're not going to close a school down just because there is one case."

However, those guidelines might be changing.

Federal officials plan to issue new guidelines for school closings today.

In addition to the new guidelines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Education Department also might set up a monitoring system to track school closures across the nation.

Although discussion on precautionary measures and on how to keep students safe has been held, Duerring said no plans will be made this far in advance on what to do in case of an outbreak.

In addition, the school board would not make any decisions to close a school without talking to the local health department, he said.

"They're the experts," Duerring said. "If a case were to get worse, we would consult with the health department and then take appropriate action."

The sick Piedmont student has been out of class since July 31. His test came back positive for swine flu Thursday morning, said Janet Briscoe, director of the Division of Epidemiology for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.

There are no other suspected cases at Piedmont Elementary. Students and faculty members already would be showing signs of the illness, Briscoe said, and so far no one else has had any flu-like symptoms.

The incubation period for the H1N1 virus can be up to seven days, and the student has been out for most of that time.

"That doesn't mean there aren't other cases or unidentified cases," she said, "but, hopefully, parents will continue to monitor their children and keep them home if they are showing any symptoms."

Even so, health officials know that there likely will be an increase in the number of swine flu cases once the flu season starts later this year.

Unlike regular seasonal flu, the virus has not died out during the hot summer months and has infected more than 1 million Americans.

"It's only a matter of time before we see a large number of students coming down sick with the virus," Briscoe said. "We knew this was likely to occur when students were back in session."

The county school system is advising good hand washing and is asking parents to keep their kids home if they appear ill.

"We're doing what we can on a precautionary level," Duerring said.

In addition, Briscoe said information has been sent to parents at Piedmont about how to keep their children safe and what symptoms to look for.

"There's no reason for them to panic," she said. "The protocol for the schools and students is much the same or similar to seasonal flu."

In addition to good hand-washing techniques, the health department has also asked school staff to clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces within the schools.

Parents have been asked to keep their children home from school if they have a fever greater than 100 or are coughing and have a sore throat, Briscoe said.

Relief might be in sight. The swine flu vaccine could be coming to Kanawha County as early as Oct. 15, but Briscoe said that doesn't mean it will get administered right away.

"It could be at the department, but it may not be ready to distribute in my hands on that day," she said. "It's a little too early to tell. They are still doing clinical trials."

Children and young adults from 6 months to 24 years will be in the first wave of people to get vaccinated, in addition to pregnant women and people and caregivers in contact with infants less than 6 months old.

After that, the vaccine should be readily available to anyone else who might have underlying heath problems that would make him or her more susceptible to the flu, Briscoe said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathryng@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0226-37058080