H1N1- Does your school tell you when kids are sick?

[WDWjen]

My daughter had a fever on Sunday & Monday (Dr said it wasnt Flu) and then we had off for Election Day on Tues. I was told by other parents/friends/neighbors to keep her home Wed-Fri to be safe because other kids had confirmed H1N1 in her class. Since then I have heard NOTHING from the school but the word around town is that out of 20 kids in her class 14 were out sick one day and 16 were home the next day!

Are your schools notifying you if there are that many cases of h1n1? I don't see the reasoning - they have sent home letters in the past for Lice, Strep,Whooping cough etc. Last spring they had a automated phone call when one kid in the high school had an unconfirmed case of Swine. Now I hear nothing???

Just curious to see what other schools are doing...

[luvmy3]

We just got a letter home from our district stating there are confirmed cases in the schools but it did not state which ones. The nurse in my kid's school did call me last week to let me know that there was a confirmed case of flu in my ds's class. This is not a normal thing for them to do but she said they are calling any parent with a child asthma or other issues if there are any confirmed cases in their class. She did not know at that point if it was H1N1.

[cntrygal]

We have had so many out that, outr district shut down wed. we reopen mon.

[aggiemouse]

No, the school is not notifying us of cases. I think that they should at least send a note to those students who are in a class that is affected. They can't say who it is of course, but they can at least let parents know it is in their child's class.

[tinkerfan1]

Our schools don't let us know squat. Of course, they say our state doesn't have many cases of swine flu but I find that very odd when I have sure heard of many people who have had it, including in my very household. Our doctor's offie has been innundated with cases. I digress. To answer your question, no, the communication thus far has been nil. I have one in high school and one in middle school.

[Mandylynne]

Nope. My DS was one of the kids in his class that had H1N1. We called and talked to his teacher, the office and the school nurse. The office and school nurse did not seem surprise. After talking to his teacher we found at that another little boys parents called right before us to tell her the same thing. After talking with her later about it, she said a bunch of the kids in the class were all sick with H1N1, but we still didn't recieve anything home about it.

[Heidijs]

They sent home a letter a while ago saying nobody had it yet but would notify us if someone does...here's the funny part, my daughter and a few other kids in school DID get it but guess what, our clinics aren't testing for it cus everyone has it! So it's basically a wash...my doc said she was 99% sure she had it given her symptoms and half the sick kids in school had the same thing so go figure. The letters mean nothing.

[Hannathy]

No and I can guess that if they did they would have a lot of problem with the HIPA regulations if the wrong child was in that class. A suit happy parent, and there are a ton of them, could have a field day if privacy was compromised.

Does it really matter unless you have a really imuno-compromised child and then I think you would be on top of what was going on.

[snookiedoodles]

No the school has not told us about any cases.....actually they had the nerve to say that there was no cases in this area......BS....I know of about five people!!

[Heidijs]

Not like it really matters. It's really no different than any other flu. By the time you find out they're sick, they've already probably infected half the classroom. Do they close the school if they have a confirmed case? Nope...so what's the point...when she started school this year I just assumed the flu was already in the classroom and we started hand washing and all that stuff right away. Plus she's in daycare so once it hit the school, the whole daycare had it too. Just glad it's over with. It came through our town like a tornado and now it's pretty much over.

[RMulieri]

NOPE...andI know of one girl who sits with my DD and was out last week with it.I am praying that if we get it, we get it soon, or it waits till after our Disney trip.

[arielsleepingbeauty]

Someone had the H1N1 virus right before the end of the school year in June and there was a letter that came home to et the parents know.
Now almost every week we get notices about precautions, safety, etc. There are so many kids out that we should just expect that they have the virus and take whatever precautions we need to.
My daughters are cheerleaders and have alot of body contact with others. We just go around with the purell and give every girl a dab before and after every stunting routine. I also continue to remind my girls that although you dont have to stop hanging around kids that are sick, you should be careful, no hugging or holding hands. My little one is very touchy feely.

[tinkmom2]

They don't tell about H1N1 but I did get a note saying someone in my 4 year old's class has chicken pox today My daughter was vaccinated so hopefully she will not come down with it. We leave for WDW in a week! We don't even have the vaccine for the swine flu available right now. They keep changing the criteria. Now they just want pregnant people and really young. So we are going to wait it out.

[Keri]

nothing specific, but we did get letters home from school about when we should keep the kids home (my DD was out ALLLLL week with a fever -- no other symptoms, but they require 24 hours fever free. Thankfully Mon & Tues were teacher workdays), how to help prevent the spread, etc. We also got a call from one school about the number of "flu-like" illnesses that were going around school, and both schools have informed us that many kids will be issues incomplete grades for 1st quarter with the opportunity to make up work.

It's pretty crazy. Definitely an early and BIG flu season, but I also think a lot of families (like me) are keeping kids home for things they otherwise might not have if it wasn't such a big deal right now. I mean today, DD is fever free and perky and bored out of her mind! I probably would have sent her another year, but this year, I don't want to risk spreading anything & making someone else's kid MORE sick because she got a mild version of something that can be much more serious!

[LWatson]

Mine is only in daycare, but we do get notified when they have been exposed to ANYTHING.