Flu prevention strategies for schools

Since the start of the 2009-10 school year, PublicSchoolWORKS has received a lot of interest in our online flu prevention courses. Administrators have been looking for effective ways to make staff and students aware of flu prevention strategies.

To help school district administrators get the information they needed on flu prevention, we began hosting free Flu Prevention Tips & Strategies webinars. The webinars were well attended and many administrators were able to share their district's strategies with other district administrators in attendance.

If you would like to attend one of PSW's flu prevention webinars, please click here to email me for the date and time of the next scheduled webinar.

In the meantime, here are some great tips from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on flu prevention for schools:

• Stay home when sick. You should stay home for 24 hours after your fever has passed.
• Separate students and staff who have a flu like illness. They should be sent to a room separate from the general population until they can be sent home.
• Practice hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. Wash hands frequently with soap and water. Cover noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Dispose of the used tissue in a waste bin.
• Routine clean. Staff should routinely clean areas that staff and students touch often with the cleaners they typically use.
• Early treatment of high-risk students and staff. People at high risk for influenza complications who become ill with influenza-like illness should speak with their health care provider as soon as possible. Early treatment with antiviral medications is very important for people at high risk because it can prevent hospitalizations and deaths. People at high risk include those who are pregnant, have asthma or diabetes, have compromised immune systems or have neuro-muscular diseases.