District 25 Plans in Place to Fight Flu Epidemic

Arlington Heights District 25 is mobilized to fight the flu.

“We sent a letter this week from the superintendent to parents as a guide to the flu epademic from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” said Renee Zoladz, assistant superintendent for person and planning for District 25.

“In addition, we have been reminding teachers, staff and students to practice good hand hygiene. We’ve provided additional alcohol-based hand sanitizer,” she said.

There are also posters and reminders around schools to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze to contain your germs and stay home if you are sick, Zoladz said.

The H1N1 pandemic of 2009 caught the government, businesses, schools and hospitals by surprise. What came of the crisis, however, has helped prepare everyone for health emergencies like the current seasonal flu epidemic.

This flu season is the worst in 10 years, experts said. Deaths are up to 27 in Illinois, according to reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Illinois had a high flu activity level last week and activity has increased across the country. Cook County had 90 cases of intensive care unit hospitalizations between Dec. 30 and Jan. 5, according to the Cook County Health Department.

So far, District 25 has not been hit by the flu epidemic.

“We are prepared, just in case,” Zoladz said.

Custodians have been cleaning surfaces and items that can transmit germs like doors and doorknobs even more than usual, she said.

Teachers and staff were offered vaccines earlier in the school year through the district’s benefits program, she said. However, District 25 has also increased staff in case the flu does strike and substitute teachers are needed, she said.

Preparing for public health outbreaks has become routine for schools in the last three years. H1N1 is a flu virus that became a pandemic. It was also called swine flu because of its similarities to human flu, according to the website flu.gov.

H1N1 caused chaos around the world and led to school closings across the country, and locally, as well as long lines for the vaccine.

The World Health Organization has said the virus is in a post-pandemic period, but it is still circulating, the site states. H1N1 has been included in seasonal flu vaccines, according to the site.

“When we had the big H1N1 scare, we revised all of our preparations for the spread of the flu,” Zoladz said.

“We had a plan prior to H1N1 but that (pandemic) caused us to revisit our plan,” she said. “Now, with so many more potential epidemics, we tend to revisit that plan annually. It has just become routine and part of our annual planning for seasonal flu.”