Back to school, means back to concern over the spread of swine flu. Unfortunately, a swine flu vaccine will not be available until late October. To protect our community, we have two choices: wait for the federal government to protect us or take simple precautions at home.
To keep your children safe, take time to teach them to wash their hands and how to avoid germs.
New directives from the federal government Friday regarding school closures indicate that protecting children from swine flu must start with education at home.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued new guidelines for schools on Friday. Schools should close this fall only if large numbers of students have swine flu, they said, and children can come back to school 24 hours after their fevers are gone. This is drastically different from three months ago when more than 700 schools closed. This time around, the federal government wants to minimize disruptions as the school year resumes in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, parents must prepare themselves and their children. The same precautions health officials urged in May still hold true today:
Vigorously wash hands several times a day.
Sneeze or cough into a tissue or an elbow to avoid the spread of germs.
Avoid touching ones eyes, nose or mouth.
Avoid contact with sick people.
Those who feel ill with flu-like symptoms need to stay home until 24 hours after the fever has disappeared.
Be prepared to stay at home with a sick child or make arrangements for someone to stay with the child.
Local school district and health officials report they are meeting to develop plans for dealing with swine flu once the school year resumes. A big part of that plan is getting the word out to the public about how individuals can protect themselves.
The swine flu continues to infect people worldwide with more than 1 million American cases reported so far. With some personal responsibility and common sense precautions, we can minimize the impact of swine flu in our community.
