Don't Close for Swine Flu: Feds to Schools

Shutting down is 'last resort' if 'high numbers' of students fall ill

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 7, 2009 5:52 PM CDT

(Newser) – Health officials issued new guidelines today to help schools handle swine flu cases, advising them to close only if "high numbers" of students fall ill, USA Today reports. Closing down should be “a last resort, not a first resort,” US Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. The guidelines replace a standing directive to shutter any H1N1-infected school for 2 weeks. More than 700 schools were temporarily closed last spring.

Under the guidelines, infected students will be asked to recuperate at home for up to a week once their fever dies down. The federal directive also stresses frequent hand washing, “coughing etiquette,” and vigilance among teachers. At a Washington press conference, Duncan added that schools could be ideal mass vaccination sites if the swine flu grows more severe.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan holds up a copy of 'Preparing for the Flu,' during a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services August 7, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)

Technicians perform production operations during a dry run in the influenza manufacturing facility at Sanofi Pasteur in Swiftwater, Pa. (AP Photo/David W. Coulter)

This photo released by United Animal Nations shows Carlos Lopez, a third-grade student at Bowling Green Charter Elementary School in Sacramento, California . (AP Photo/United Animal Nations)

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, speaks about education stimulus funding during a news conference at Doswell Brooks Elementary School in Capitol Heights, Md. on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • school • vaccine • school closing • swine flu • H1N1 virus

MOST POPULAR STORIES

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Swine Flu Hits 1 in 6

H1N1 has killed 10K Americans

Shortage of Seasonal Flu Vaccine Looms

Supplies running low, manufacturers can't make more

Vaccine Delay Aggravates Swine Flu Fears

Uncertainty of supply makes scheduling immunization clinics tough

First Swine Flu Vaccine Will Be Nasal Spray

But pregnant women, newborns should wait for needle version

Snags Threaten Massive Vaccination Drive

Cost, confusion with seasonal flu could mar government's efforts

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