State backs off on swine flu testing; cases increase but remain mild
No educator likes the idea of shutting a school down, even for one day.
But in the cases of recent closures across the suburbs due to swine flu, school administrators say they felt they could not ignore the recommendation of their county health departments.
"They're the experts on this, we're not," said Tony Sanders, spokesman for Elgin Area School District U-46, home to Ridge Circle Elementary in Streamwood which is scheduled to be closed through next week. "This kind of decision is never made lightly. But when public health is involved, we have to take our lead from the experts."
The school closures come as the state of Illinois tries to calm the public and reduce an overwhelming number of requested swine flu tests by limiting tests to people who have been hospitalized due to flu symptoms.
Ridge Circle is among at least seven schools across the suburbs that have been closed to some degree due to the concern over spreading this flu, and most are expected to open next week. Rotolo Middle School in Batavia, Haines Middle School in St. Charles, Jones Middle School and Marmion Academy in Aurora closed on the advice of county health officials. Both St. Edward Central Catholic High School canceled school and activities Friday due to a suspected case involving a student, and Batavia High School is closed until Monday due to a student coming down with the swine flu.
Yet one suburban school, Wood Dale Junior High in Wood Dale, remained open Friday after a student showed symptoms of swine flu. Again, that decision was made on the advice of the DuPage County Health Department.
"We didn't see the spike in absentee rate that would suggest a bigger problem there," said DuPage County spokesman Jason Gerwig. "We look at these cases individually, and we discuss them in depth with the specific school district's leaders."
Either way, it's a weighty decision for school officials to make.
Bill Dussling, president of the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 school board, said it's tough now to second-guess health departments' recommendations to close schools. District 214, based in Arlington Heights, hasn't had any swine flu cases, but officials are monitoring the situation closely.
"It's a significant action to take, but how can we say at this point that it's an overreaction?" Dussling said. "This involves the safety of students and staff. That's a huge priority. So (school leaders) have to monitor things and listen to what the county folks and state folks tell (them)."
At Ridge Circle in Streamwood, Sanders says he's ready to reopen sooner than May 11 if county health officials give them the green light.
"If we receive word from them that we can open before then, we absolutely will," he said, adding that at this point, officials don't plan to extend the school year for Ridge Circle students.
At Elgin's St. Edward Central Catholic High, classes were canceled Friday after one student came down with severe flu symptoms. But after the student tested negative for the swine flu virus, school officials decided to reopen Monday. All Saturday athletic events were already canceled.
Kane County Health Department spokesman Tom Schlueter said the county counsels schools to look at clusters of flu, such as the four cases at Marmion Academy, or for high rates of absenteeism.
"It's an overabundance of caution," he said. "If there's possible illness, we're going to take some steps to make sure your children are safe."
Meanwhile, state health officials have slightly altered their approach to the swine flu outbreak, saying the state it would test only those hospitalized with severe illness. The state was inundated with more than 500 samples, and confirmed three of 54 probable cases.
Eleven new cases were found in DuPage County, and the latest probable case popped up in Will County, where an 11-year-old boy from Plainfield was recovering at home.
But the cases have been mild, and can be treated without lab testing, so the state is focusing on prevention and treatment of the most serious cases, department of public health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said.
Nationwide, the number of confirmed swine flu cases reached 141, with one death.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control announced that swine flu is about as contagious as common seasonal flu, and does not have the genes that made a 1918 flu pandemic so deadly. People 60 and older may have some natural immune protection against the disease.
The impact of the flu has hit the airlines as well. United Airlines announced Friday it will reduce flights to Mexico, where the flu is believed to have originated.
To stay healthy, officials emphasized three C's - keep your hands clean, cover your cough or sneeze, and contain its spread by staying home if you're sick.
• Daily Herald staff and wire services contributed to this report.
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Park officials said the cancellations were recommended by the Kane County Health Department.</p> <p class="leadin">Diamond Lake District 76 Cinco de Mayo event </p> <p class="News">Originally scheduled for Friday, the PTO-sponsored event will be canceled because of the expectation it would draw a large crowd and because of plans for families to bring food to share. </p> <p class="leadin">Haines Middle School, St. Charles</p> <p class="News">The school closed at 1 p.m. today until further notice while waiting for further tests to determine if a student has swine flu. Students and staff were advised not to gather in groups, since that would defeat the goal of interrupting transmission of the disease. Even with the school closed, families of any student with flu-like symptoms are asked to call the school district at (630) 513-3030. </p> <p class="leadin">Marmion Academy, Aurora</p> <p class="News">Classes and all activities are canceled at least through this week while an 18-year-old from Geneva recovers at home from a probable case of the flu. Marmion's Flannigan Rifles Drill Team's planned trip to Daytona Beach, Fla., is canceled. The team was scheduled to leave today.</p> <p class="leadin">St. Edward, Elgin</p> <p class="News">Officials at St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin told parents today that school would re-open Monday after several students, who had exhibited severe flu symptoms, tested negative for the H1N1 virus.</p> <p class="News">Rev. Ed Seisser, the school's principal and superintendent, told parents in a phone message at 2:30 p.m. about the negative tests and noted that the school would inform parents via phone tree over the weekend if anything changed.</p>