Know What to Do About the Flu
Help keep your family healthy this flu season
H1N1 Influenza and Seasonal Flu, 2009
How to Prevent Flu
What Schools Are Doing
What Families Should Do
Frequently Asked Questions
Learn More About the Flu
How to Prevent Flu
Public health officials say prevention is simple: Wash your hands. Cover your cough. Stay home when sick. Get vaccinated.
Vaccines to protect against both H1N1 flu and seasonal flu strains are now widely available in our community. For information about where to get vaccinated in Lane County, please visit Lane County Public Health. If you have questions about the flu, such as when to seek medical attention, you can call the Oregon Flu Hotline toll-free at 1-800-978-3040.
What Schools Are Doing
[Información en Español por el CDC]
At Eugene School District 4J, the health and well-being of our students is our top priority. Both the novel H1N1 pandemic strain of influenza and the usual strains of seasonal flu viruses circulating in our region, and flu can easily spread from person to person. Therefore, we are taking extra precautions to reduce the spread of flu at 4J schools this season. Every school in the district is doing the following:
- Teach flu prevention practices. Beginning the first day of school, schools have been instructing students on how to prevent the spread of flu and other viruses — proper handwashing protocols, cough and sneeze etiquette, and more.
- Promote and model good hygiene. School administrators have placed flu prevention posters in visible locations, and staff are modeling flu prevention practices.
- Separate sick people from others. Students and staff with flu-like illness are sent home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever.
- Report unusually high absences due to illness. School administrators will report any high absenteeism or severe flu cases to district administrators, who will consult with public health officials for guidance.
- Keep the learning going. Schools have worked to develop ways to keep kids learning at home and/or able to make up coursework later if illness keeps individual students out of school for extended periods.
Eugene School District 4J is continuing to work closely with Lane County Public Health and the Oregon Public Health Division to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning schools.
What Families Should Do
We want to keep our schools open and functioning normally during this flu season — but we need your help to do this. Public health officials recommend four main ways to help keep you and your family from getting sick with the flu at school and at home:
- Wash your hands. Practice good hand hygiene by washing your hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. If soap and water are not available, alcohol-based hand cleansers also are effective. Avoid other ways viruses can be easily transmitted, such as sharing personal items (e.g. drinks, food, utensils).
- Cover your cough. Respiratory etiquette means covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow or shoulder, not into your hands.
- Stay home when sick. Keep children and adults at home if they are sick with flu-like illness. Stay home for at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever or signs of a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen). Symptoms of the flu are a fever (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit) along with symptoms such as cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired.
- Get vaccinated. Public health advice is to get your family vaccinated for both seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu as soon as possible. Vaccines for both seasonal flu and H1N1 flu are now widely available through vaccine clinics at schools and elsewhere, or by appointment at doctor’s offices, clinics, pharmacies and other locations. If you are not sure about whether or not you should get the vaccine, call your healthcare provider for advice.
Other recommended steps to prepare for the possibility of flu include: update your emergency contact information at your schools; plan for child care at home if your child gets sick or their school is dismissed; and identify if you have family members who are at higher risk of serious disease from the flu and talk to your healthcare provider about a plan to protect them during the flu season.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is H1N1 flu?
H1N1 influenza is a respiratory illness related to seasonal influenza. The symptoms of H1N1 flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Intestinal symptoms are less commonly associated with this H1N1 influenza.
Is there a vaccine for H1N1 flu?
Yes. Regular seasonal flu vaccines do not protect against the H1N1 strain, but a separate vaccine is available. Visit Lane County Public Health or call the Oregon Flu Hotline toll-free at 1-800-978-3040 to find out where you can get vaccinated.
Who is most at risk from flu?
Anyone can get the flu, even healthy people, and problems from the flu can happen at any age. However, children under the age of 5 years, pregnant women, people of any age with chronic medical conditions (such as heart disease, pulmonary disease including asthma, diabetes, neuromuscular disorders), and people age 65 and older are more likely to get complications from the flu and should contact their healthcare provider for advice.
What should families do to stay healthy?
Public health officials say families should get the vaccines for seasonal flu and H1N1 flu as early as possible. Families should continue to emphasize good health habits: staying home when ill, washing hands frequently, and covering coughs and sneezes.
When should someone stay home?
A little sniffle is not a reason to stay home, but influenza is! Keeping sick students at home means that they keep their viruses to themselves rather than sharing them with others. If a student or staff member has flu-like illness — fever (greater than 100°F or 37.8°C) along with symptoms such as a cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired — he or she must stay home until at least 24 hours after the fever is gone (determined without the use of fever-reducing medicine).
People with flu also should not go anywhere else (such as childcare, the mall, or sporting events) where other people would be exposed to flu germs. At this time, public health officials say that the sick person's other family members do not need to stay home if they do not have flu symptoms.
Why the concern about flu in schools?
Students can get sick with flu and easily spread it to other students and their families. So far, with 2009 H1N1 flu, the largest number of cases has been in people between 5 and 24 years old.
Will schools be closed?
School dismissal is unlikely unless high absenteeism makes it hard for a school to function. This was different last spring, but the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) changed its school closure guidelines after public health officials learned more about the new flu strain.
What are schools doing?
School-based health centers are partnering with Lane County Public Health to administer H1N1 flu vaccines to our community as vaccine is available. School staff are teaching and modeling hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. Sick kids and staff will be sent home. School offices are monitoring absentee rates and flu-like illnesses among students and staff. The school district will remain in close contact with public health officials for guidance.
What do “hand hygiene” and “respiratory etiquette” mean?
Hand hygiene: Wash hands often with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds, especially after coughing or sneezing. If soap and water are not available, alcohol-based hand sanitizers also are effective. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth — keep hands below your neck.
Respiratory etiquette: Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow or shoulder, not into your hands.
What about cleaning surfaces?
Flu viruses do not survive for very long on hard surfaces, such as desks and door knobs. Public health officials say it is not necessary to disinfect such surfaces beyond routine cleaning.
Are there other things schools can do?
Our prevention practices are based on recommendations from public health officials. If there are severe flu conditions this school year, public health officials may recommend additional practices to prevent the spread of flu in schools.
How can people stay informed?
• Eugene schools: www.4j.lane.edu/flu
• Lane County information: Lane County Public Health
• Oregon information: flu.oregon.gov
• National information: www.flu.gov
• Oregon Flu Hotline: 1-800-978-3040
• Health concerns? Contact your healthcare provider.