Flu season hits full force, school attendance remains stable

Sharpe
Elementary
most affected by absenteeism

By Mary Garrison
Tribune-Courier Features Editor
mgarrison@tribunecourier.com

MARSHALL COUNTY – Flu season has hit in full force, a little earlier than usual, said Benton Health Care Nurse Practitioner Jason Fiessinger.

“Generally, we don’t really even give the regular seasonal flu shot much until October,” Fiessinger said. “This year we were already seeing several cases in September. The flu is really bad this year.”

Fiessinger said he and his partner Christy Wortham have seen some cases of an upper respiratory, bronchial infection; however, the vast majority of illness to come into the clinic have been flu related, and most of those have been type A influenza.

“I’ve only had one case of Influenza type B,” Fiessinger said.
Fortunately for Marshall County School System, Director of Pupil Personnel Ledonia Williamson said the trend has not yet reached the entire community.

Last week, the school system had an average attendance of 94.65 percent.

“Sharpe Elementary took a terrible hit last week,” Williamson said. “On Wednesday, their attendance was at 86.96 percent. They’re generally never below 95 percent.”

Williamson said the school had as many as 54 children out on Wednesday. However, by Friday, those numbers were starting to bounce back, with only 40 children sick.

“Jonathan was a little low last week, too,” Williamson said. “They were down to about 91 percent.

“We’re hoping that the trend will only affect one school at a time so the whole community isn’t down at once,” Williamson said.

Williamson said while the school system hasn’t set a “magic number,” they are still prepared for the possibility of shutting down in the event of widespread illness.

She’s keeping track of flu-like illness spread, as well. Each day, Williamson said she monitors absentees with ILI [Influenza Like Illness] code and emails those reports to the Marshall County Health Department, Superintendent Trent Lovett and members of the Marshall County Board of Education.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean those students definitely have the flu, though,” Williamson said. “The code applies to all possible flu cases — even when parents call in and say ‘I think they might have the flu.’”

School system custodians are working to keep schools clean and disinfected to cut down on spread of the virus, as well. Facilities and Transportation Director Danny Davis has outlined a strict cleaning regimen followed each day in schools, including wiping down all desks, door knobs and facings and water fountains with antiseptic wipes.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever eliminate the virus, but we’ll slow it down,” Davis said. “We’ve got hand sanitizer dispensers in all the computer labs and the cafeterias, and we’re spraying down the buses everyday.”

Still, the most effective way to prevent spread of the flu is common sense, Fiessinger added.

“Wash your hands, avoid touching your face, eyes and mouth, if you have to cough, cough into your elbow,” Fiessinger said. “Absolutely everyone, unless you have an allergy, should get a seasonal flu shot.”