Influenza Update June 1, 2009
Over the past few weeks, we have been involved in the daily monitoring of attendance levels at all schools across the district. Monday, June 1st was the first day that greater than 10% of students were absent from some of our schools, most specifically the four southern-most schools in the district: Braeside, Edgewood, Red Oak and Sherwood Schools. Although students were absent for a number of reasons (illness, sibling graduations, out of town travel, etc.) we assume that greater than the average number of students were absent due to flu including the H1N1 swine flu virus.
Therefore, we are again offering the following important information regarding influenza. We also encourage parents who may be especially concerned because they are parents of medically fragile students or have pre-school aged children who are medically fragile to consult with health care professionals before sending students to school. At this time, we have no plans to close any school or to end the school year early.
The Lake County Health Department has reminded all residents of the following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Public Health:

• Most cases of H1N1 (swine) flu do not require a visit to a health care provider, testing for the virus, or treatment with anti-virals.
• For most mild flu cases, testing or treatment with anti-virals are not necessary and should be replaced by plenty of rest and other traditional remedies.
• Currently, antiviral treatment is recommended for hospitalized cases or people with H1N1 (swine) flu risk factors, including: pregnancy, asthma, chronic respiratory or cardiovascular illness, renal or liver diseases, compromised immune system, etc.
• Wide use of anti-virals eventually results in the appearance of viruses that are resistant to the treatment.
• It is unclear if the spread of H1N1 (swine) flu will slow down when schools are out for the summer. Summer camps and similar facilities must be alert for influenza-like cases among children and staff.
• We continue to encourage all residents to wash their hands, cover their cough and stay home when they’re sick. These good hygiene practices may seem like basic things, but they play a paramount role to help avoid infecting others.
• The Health Department continues to be vigilant in an effort to reduce the transmission and severity of illness.

The Lake County Health Department has activated an H1N1 (swine) flu hotline for county residents to obtain more information on swine flu, including the signs and symptoms and how to remain healthy. The hotline number is: (847) 377-8350. Information is provided in both English and Spanish. Additional information is available from the Centers for Disease Control in English: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/  or in Spanish: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/espanol/  and from the Illinois Department of Public Health: http://www.idph.state.il.us/ .