Our school system has the flu going around already.

[Ilsa]

It is Type A flu ( the most common and also the scariest of the three influenzas, causing the most serious epidemics in history), but not necessarily swine flu according to the school administrators. But there have been alot of absences in middle schools here, even though the school district has had lots of healthy procedures in place, such as frequent handwashing, etc.

[virgogal]

1. Yikes! We don't start until next week- Should be an interesting

school year.

[BobRossi]

2. What state is your district in? nt

[Ilsa]

4. I'm in south Texas. Still almost hotter than hell here. We got a cold front, though, and now

the temperature reaches a high of 96 instead of 102. Yes, and the flu is going around.

I bought hand sanitizer for my youngest kid. My oldest is autistic, and he's been pretty lax in covering his mouth for a cough or sneeze, even though we've all been working with him on this. The school will have to be extra careful with him if he develops a sniffle.

[BobRossi]

3. Self delete, fat finger error.

[havocmom]

5. Ours has flu and whooping cough

gonna be a year to remember

[Ilsa]

6. Oh no. And the whooping cough was preventable. nt

[havocmom]

9. lots of it out there in the nation, among teens and adults who didn't know they needed boosters

Doctors have missed it for years.

[Ilsa]

11. It surprises me that the drs are messing up the teens' vax schedules.

Doctors have sign off on participation in alot of competitive sports. They should have caught this, and the school nurse should be asking about vaxes. My son just started middle school and the nurs has already informed me of what vaccines he'll need next year.

[havocmom]

13. DO many schools HAVE nurses anymore? Most seem to have cut that years ago

[Ilsa]

14. My son's school has two nurses most of the time, but with two

additional elementary schools and a hiring freeze, they have to extend themselves further.

Even if the school nurse doesn't catch it, reviewing a vax schedule isn't that hard. I suspect some schools don't mess with it any more.

[madrchsod]

7. whooping cough? why in the hell did`t they vaccinate their children?

in illinois one can not go to school without having all the shots.

[havocmom]

8. Actually, it is not that uncommon, in teens and adults

The vaccine is not life long and even doctors have been missing the diagnosis a lot over the past several years. You may be surprised how much of it there is. The very young are usually the ones NOT getting it, because they get their shots.

[LeftishBrit]

12. Older kids and adults who were vaccinated in infancy...

can often still get whooping cough, though they tend to get it more mildly than if they'd not been vaccinated. If an adult has a cough that lasts for a month or more, it is more likely to be whooping cough than is sometimes realized. Such attenuated whooping cough in an older child or adult is rarely life-threatening for the person who has it, but it's desirable that they don't get too close to babies who have not yet been vaccinated.

[greenbriar]

10. ours too...this week alone, we have sent about 50 students home

wow