H1N1 Update: CDC Issues Guidance for School Districts for Upcoming Academic Year
This is from Journal Watch, based on CDC guidelines:
When contemplating school dismissals for flu, officials should balance the goal of reducing exposure to H1N1 virus against the social disruption brought about by sending students home, the CDC recommends in new guidance issued for the upcoming academic year (grades K–12).
If H1N1 severity is the same as during the spring outbreak, the CDC advises that:
ill students and staff should remain at home for 24 hours after they are free of fever (without use of fever-lowering drugs);
those who are sick at school should be separated from others until they can be sent home.
If the virus shows increased severity compared with the spring outbreak:
students and staff should be screened on arrival at school and sent home if ill;
people at high risk for complications or with ill household members should stay home;
sick people should stay home for at least 7 days, even if they become asymptomatic.