Don't Close for Swine Flu: Feds to Schools

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.

(More H1N1 virus stories.)