H1/N1 scare prompts precaution
September 17, 2009 • written by Shruti Shrisvastav
Some people started looking at each other suspiciously when Principal Lauren Lek came on MCTV during ninth period Wednesday, Aug 19. Her first few words, “Good Afternoon Moreau Catholic,” seemed pretty normal. The mention of sickness, however, caused a stir among the student body, and for the next couple of weeks students were genuinely afraid of catching the H1/N1 virus.
According to Lek, the decision to inform the school of the unusual number of absences due to this uncommon flu was “a strategic move by the Oakland Diocese, leadership teams, and the school’s administration.”
That move was deemed necessary because this flu season began much earlier than usual. The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) website reports flu season to regularly peak in November and continue on until April.
The term “swine flu”, the negative connotation associated with it, and the fear from the deaths it caused in other countries also added to the decision to make the preemptive announcement.
Karen Strawn, of the attendance office, found the announcement useful. “It definitely made us more aware as a community of what was going on,” she said. “The second week of school, numbers of students falling sick were increasing and for a while we didn’t know why.”
Lek also felt it necessary to try to prevent the spread of the virus. “Many kids feel sick and have fevers but still come to school,” Lek said.
While some students decided to come to school even if they weren’t feeling well, some students automatically went doctor ‘s office after hearing Lek’s announcement. Freshmen Calyx Embry and Kim Ly both went the doctor’after they started experiencing flu-like symptoms.
“When I went to the doctor’s they stuck a Q-Tip in my throat and tested me for something, and I stayed home for about two days,” Embry said.
“They did that to me too,” Ly added, “but I didn’t have swine flu.”
Suddenly, teachers started noticing up to nine students missing in a single class.
Seniors Kaitlin Renfro and Michael Capule both contracted viral infections. Whether or not they had swine flu is unknown to them, but they both shared the same symptoms: cough, sore throat, runny noses, fevers, weakness, chills, body ache, and nausea are a few.
Students responded to Lek’s advice by asking to leave class when they felt these symptoms.
“Students were coming down and asking us to check their fevers,” Strawn said. “At first the attendance office was overwhelmed with the number of students falling ill, but the more information I collected, the more proactive I could be about disinfecting everything.”
Interestingly, not all the students falling sick had flu symptoms. Urgent care doctors at the Palo Alto Medical foundation claimed that the CDC is not testing for swine flu in particular. Only children under the age of 5 and seniors can be treated. Tests take almost two months to come back and by that time the patient is usually over the infection.
This means that it is difficult to tell for sure whether or not any Moreau student actually contracted the H1/N1 virus.
“No doctor has verified the cases of swine flu but there are some suspected cases,” said Lek. “The fever is the determination, and by encouraging students to use hand sanitizer we are motivating students to have good practices.”
Assistant Principal Mike Aquino fell sick for a while as well. He was not tested for the flu, but he understands the importance of taking precautions. “Staying at home and keeping good hygiene is the most we can do to prevent more students from falling sick,” Aquino said.
If over 15% of the studnent body fell sick with the same symptoms, the school would have to temporarily close.
“We are nowhere near that number,” Aquino said.
If that did happen, Aquino has worked with teachers to prepare a backup plan.
“We would depend entirely on technology,” he said. “Teachers would conduct synchronous chats and discussions with small groups of students at a time.”
For now, teachers are working to accommodate student absences. Senior Jessica Lopez missed seven days of school, and when she came back she had a hard time catching up in Calculus. “Mr. Gongwer has been the most helpful and understanding teacher,” she said. “His calculus class is really hard for me and I missed a test and some extra classes, but he has really given me a lot of time to catch up and learn all of the material.”
For future prevention, the H1/N1 vaccine is being made available to the public in November.
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