Joyce Marie Cantrelle Marcel
May 5, 2009
Stewart Thomas Landry
May 7, 2009
With seven students confirmed to have contracted the H1N1 (swine) flu in Louisiana on Sunday, Tri-parish school district officials said they are taking the necessary precautions to prevent exposing students and educators to the highly contagious virus.
Lafourche Parish Public Schools spokesman Floyd Benoit said there have been fewer than a dozen suspected cases and none confirmed for the swine flu from Lafourche students.
The school district has begun Phase I of its influenza emergency plan, which means any students showing symptoms are sent to their regular doctor and cannot return to classes until a doctor clears the student as not having the virus.
“Our school nurses are monitoring the children extra carefully, making sure students showing symptoms go to the doctor,” Benoit said. “We have sent out e-mails to the principals and staff about washing their hands and other sanitary measures so the flu doesn’t spread.”
The school district does not go into Phase II until there is a confirmed H1N1 case. In Phase II, the central office would contact the state Department of Health & Hospitals (DHH) and the Lafourche Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness.
The school with the infected student or staff member would be closed for an unspecified amount of time, according to the influenza emergency plan.
“The state and federal government are telling us now we would have to close the school for at least 14 days if there was a confirmed case,” Benoit said.
St. Mary and Terrebonne school districts have also reported no confirmed cases and have no suspected cases that require monitoring.
Keith Thibodeaux, assistant superintendent of St. Mary Parish Schools, said the system is following all its regular sanitary protocols, making sure all employees and students wash their hands.
In a release, the school district is asking parents to communicate to their children the necessity to avoid sharing objects that could transmit the flu.
“As of now, I haven’t had any principals call me about being concerned,” Thibodeaux said. “That could change tomorrow, but right now, there’s nothing.”
Terrebonne Parish School Superintendent Philip Martin said his district is following DHH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) school guidelines for containing the swine flu outbreak
“We’re going to have antibacterial soap available in all school restrooms and communicate the need to wash hands thoroughly after every contact with other people,” Martin said. “We’re going to play this conservatively and hopefully we will be spared.”
Of the seven students who have the H1N1 flu, five are from Cathedral Carmel High School in Lafayette, one is at Lake Elementary School in Ascension Parish and one is at the Audubon Charter School in New Orleans.
Nationwide, 470 schools have been closed as of Monday, keeping over 270,000 students at home.
Gov. Bobby Jindal said at a Sunday press conference that 800 flu virus samples have been sent to the state Office of Public Health labs for testing. Of those, 388 have been completed with 412 still pending.
Jindal also said the state is still awaiting test results on 16 samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Staff photo by KEYON K. JEFF / Tri-Parish Times Terrebonne High custodian Stacy Johnson cleans a library table with a disinfectant wipe, one of many precautions schools are taking to combat the spread of the H1N1 Swine Flu.
