H1N1 Virus
The H1N1 Virus(swine flu) is described by the HSE as a moderate flu pandemic. The advice of the HSE is that schools should stay open but that those who exhibit flu like symptoms should stay at home until they fully recover(usually seven days) to reduce the risk of further infection. The symptoms of the flu are as follows: sudden onset of fever, coughing, sore throat, runny nose, headache and muscle aches. Feedback from the local health surgery is that there have been no confirmed cases to date in Lusk. We aim to adopt a common sense approach to minimise the impact on our children while preparing for a possible spread of the flu. Here in the school we have purchased alcohol hand washes for each class, a supply of tissues for the rooms and new bins for the safe disposal of tissues in an effort to control any possible outbreak. We would ask all parents to monitor their children carefully, withdraw any children showing symptoms and inform the school office so that we can remain vigilant. Hopefully by working together we can reduce as far as possible any risk to our children.
The steps the children can take to help reduce the spread of infection are:
- Always carry tissues
- Always cover our nose and mouth with clean tissues when coughing or sneezing
- Always dispose of used tissues into a bin immediately
- Always wash hands thoroughly with soap and water or alcohol based hand cleaners afterwards
As a school the steps we are taking are as follows
- Raise awareness --Regular communication with the children and their families about methods to reduce any spread of infection
- Respiratory Etiquette - Remind children regarding use of paper tissues when coughing or sneezing. We will also have extra supplies of tissues in classrooms and have purchased new bins for the suitable disposal of this waste.
- Hand Hygiene - The best advice is to wash hands with soap and water after coughing/sneezing. To avoid constant visits to the bathroom we have also purchased alcohol hand cleaners which will be available on teachers desks. We are replacing hand towels in bathrooms with paper towels to avoid the sharing of hand drying facilities. We would suggest that children could bring in a small flannel such as a face cloth to be used as personal hand towels.
- Routine Cleaning - We will be extra vigilant in the cleaning of hard surfaces such as door handles
- Recognize the symptoms and respond - where a child displays the symptoms of the virus we will contact the family immediately and arrange for the child to be collected.
Note: If there are children with particular susceptibilities such as severe asthma we would ask parents to contact their family G.P. for advice.
The above steps are very much precautionary and follow the advice of the Department of Education in an effort to as much as possible reduce the risk to all the children in our school community. As mentioned at the beginning the most important step is to ensure that all children exhibiting symptoms are kept at home by their families. Thanks to all our families for their cooperation in tackling this issue.
