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With the number of flu cases increasing in some parts of the country, the Pleasanton Unified School District is focusing on prevention as talk of a return of the H1N1 virus, or the swine flu, circulates.

“We are making sure to stay in contact with the city and we have somebody assigned to participate in the county’s meetings on the swine flu,” said district spokeswoman Myla Grasso.

Prevention is the key, she added, saying elementary schools are launching a hand-washing campaign and most district classrooms currently provide hand sanitizer.

The district has said it will monitor absences of students who complain of flu-like symptoms, which may involve following up with families to encourage them to see healthcare providers.

Grasso said the availability of staff is also a concern, but that schools wouldn’t be closed unless there was an attempt to control transmission.

Parents should take note of the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when sending children back to school. It recommends having children return after being fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-suppressing medication.

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17 Comments

  2. Provide the option of flu shots at the schools. Parents have to make appointments and take kids into the Ped for shots. This would be convenient and cost less.

  3. Our schools are not hospitals. Having a child means taking responsibility for your child’s health, and that means making appointments sometimes with health care professionals. It’s not the schools job to arrange for flu shots, which could create a liability. Besides, Pleasanton foolishly voted down the parcel tax that would have funded such programs as more school nurses. People need to take more, not less, responsibility for their own children in this time of short funding.

  4. Vaccinations are not the solution. Teaching your kids to wash their hands frequently and keeping them home from school when they are sick is the solution to preventing transmission of any flu virus

  5. True, our schools are not hospitals but I remember having shots given at school when I was a child. You don’t need to go to a hospital or even a Dr. to get a vaccination. A nurse would be just fine. However as ‘Take responsibilty’ mentioned, due to budget cuts we have very few district nurses. 2.5 for the whole district if I’m not mistaken and a health clerk at each site. The clerks are not nurses. We do have Axis community health and there was a mobile health van last year… is that still around?

  6. The US is facing a pandemic. Milions of citizens will get the swine flu and thousands will die.

    Get ready…it’s here…hope parents make the right decisions for their kids.

    What I hear is that even if you get the swine flu shot, you still might die?

  8. Mom and Teacher,
    There is currently one nurse for the entire district, that is 2 ladies each working half time. Not so much budget cuts, just a lack of interest in having knowlegable licensed/certificated people serving the health needs of the children of this district. And no, Measure G would not have added any new nurses to the district roster.

    You’ve got to wonder how well this logic will serve in the event of a true flu pandemic.

  9. The state does not mandate nurses or health clerks to be on staff at schools except for special needs children who require medicines or treaments. This is why PUSD does not put the money into more nurses for our district. On one hand we are lucky to have the very part time health clerks but on the other our students are at risk should a health emergency happen. PUSD’s philosophy is call 911. Will 911 help our school population in the upcoming H1N1 crisis? I think not.
    PLEASE- Keep your kids home when they have flu like symptoms and for the full 24 hours after the fever has passed. Wash you hands frequently and get your flu shots when available.

  10. People die of influenza yearly and there are millions of strains of the flu virus. It is usually the elder population and immunocompromised that suffer the hardest and it is usually a secondary infection that kills them. The swine flu has been around for years and the only reason we are hearing so much about it is because of the media. Do the research and educate yourself before you jump to getting a swine flu vaccine.

  11. Agree with above, please keep your child home and follow the rules about 24 hours without a fever and without the use of meds to suppress the fever. If every parent would do that, it would help tremendously. C’mon parents, you can take a day off work or split the day with your spouse to keep your sick kid home! (or cancel that tennis match/botox/hair appointment and take care of your sick kid!) An ounce of prevention as they say………

  12. H1N1 is here in Pleasanton and has been for several weeks. I do know this as fact, and I’m curious to know why PUSD hasn’t sent out some form of notice. Several schools in the district were notified, and nothing’s been done to alert the public. This flu affects the respiratory system, and I wonder how the decision makers in the school district will feel when a child with asthma contracts it and they’ve kept this info to themselves. We receive notices for head lice and other illnesses. Why in the world would they not notify the families so we can all monitor our children more carefully. When you know it’s in your backyard, I think we’d all be more diligent in doing what we can to prevent further spread of this virus.

  13. This article is so irresponsibly written it makes me furious. The CDC has repeatedly said that 97-98% of current flu cases ARE H1N1. It is not just “talk” of it coming back around. It is already very widespread. Also, the CDC has REPEATEDLY stated that it is not appropriate to call H1N1 “swine flu” and that this is a misleading term about the origin of this flu strain. Good job Pleasanton Weekly. If you just copied articles from other news sources, I would give you more credit.

  14. Joseph, Joseph,

    calm down and do not forget to take you meds. I am sure you being furious just has everyone shaking in their boots. On the other hand maybe you have a temp because of the swine flu.

  15. To Jersey, why do you need a notice from the school to monitor you kid more closely? Shouldn’t you be doing that regardless of what the school or media says. Fact of the matter is, all schools in Pleasanton have been posting info about H1N1 and other flu viruses through e-connection and emails. The info has been out there for a couple of weeks!

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