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Muskegon Catholic Schools closed by the flu
By Lynn Moore | The Muskegon Chronicle
October 20, 2009, 4:52PM
MUSKEGON — Hit hard by the flu, Muskegon Catholic Schools has shut down for the rest of the week.

The school district notified parents on Tuesday that schools would not reopen until Monday.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on the numbers and mulling it for a week,” said Superintendent Robert Bridges. “The numbers keep growing.

Bridges said 90 of about 333 prekindergarten through eighth-graders missed school Tuesday. Of about 200 high school students, 35 were absent Tuesday and another couple dozen “probably shouldn’t have been here,” Bridges said.

The school reported on its newsletter that an average of 50 students were absent and 10 students were leaving school sick every day last week.

“The numbers are not going down,” Bridges said. “We didn’t want to overreact, so we waited ... We just didn’t think it would come on this fast.”

He said the district has been in close contact with Public Health-Muskegon County about the illness rate.

“This just seemed like the positive and proactive thing to do because it wasn’t getting better,” Bridges said.

The illnesses come at a particularly difficult times for schools, which are administering the Michigan Educational Assessment Program — MEAP — tests this week. There are several makeup dates for the tests taken by third- through ninth-graders scheduled next week.

It’s also a particularly tough time for Muskegon Catholic High School, which was celebrating homecoming this week. The Friday dance and pep assembly will be rescheduled, though the varsity football game against North Muskegon will be played.

The varsity soccer team also will play, but all other after-school practices, activities and games this week are canceled. Tuesday night’s fall band and choir concert also will be rescheduled.

Muskegon Catholic staff believed high school students were coming to school sick because they don’t want to miss school and get behind, and they didn’t want to miss the fun of homecoming “spirit week,” Bridges said.

The vast majority of local flu cases are H1N1 “swine” flu, according to Public Health-Muskegon County. The Catholic schools newsletter noted it had 15 confirmed cases of seasonal flu.

Other area schools reporting high rates of flu are Mona Shores Middle and Reeths-Puffer middle and intermediate schools. Reeths-Puffer Superintendent Stephen Cousins said flu cases at the middle and intermediate schools really began increasing Monday, with both reporting about 22 percent absence rates, compared to the normal 6 percent, Cousins said.

The ill included 131 students and nine of 42 staff members at Reeths-Puffer Middle School, Cousins said.

The numbers of absences are being closely watched to determine if a school should be shut down, Cousins said, noting that the health department provides advice on when to close.

Mona Shores Middle reported 149 absences due to flu last week, and administrators said at least 125 students were absent at one time.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends schools close down only if large numbers of students or staff become sick.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/inde ... _clos.html

East Jordan school officials have decided to keep the schools closed for the remainder of the week because of an outbreak of flu-like illness among its students.

On Monday, school officials decided to close the schools for Tuesday and Wednesday after nearly 25 percent of the district’s students were out sick with flu-like illnesses.

In a news release issued around 11 a.m. today, Wednesday, district superintendent Chip Hansen said the decision to keep the district’s school’s closed came after further consultation with the health department. Although classes had been slated to resume Thursday Hansen said, “The flu-like symptoms they’re seeing are lasting longer than anticipated. So, it makes sense to give our students the extra time so they can start feeling better, and can return to school healthy on Monday.”

He added that athletic teams at the high school will resume practices on Thursday, as originally anticipated, and the teams will continue to compete in games. School officials are advising any athletes who continue to have flu-like symptoms to not participate.

Hansen said maintenance workers have been busy cleaning and sanitizing all of the district’s buildings, and will continue to do so on Thursday and Friday.

http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/20 ... 656791.txt

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Flu cases are rising across the state and have forced an estimated 16 schools to close.

Some schools across mid-Michigan are reporting absenteeism at rates as high as 32 percent. Other local districts are seeing very few flu-like illnesses.

The result is that there's no way to know how many mid-Michigan schools might ultimately shutter as the swine flu or H1N1 makes its way through the population.

Most of the closings in Michigan have occurred in western Michigan, and so far only one school in mid-Michigan, East Olive Elementary School in the St. Johns district, has decided to close.

The 166-student building shut down Monday and will reopen next week.

State and area health officials don't have a set threshold of absenteeism when it comes to closing a school.

Twelve percent absenteeism might be enough to shut a school, if the principal happens to have a high population of students with asthma or other health concerns, said Dr. Eden Wells, a medical epidemiologist with the state department of Community Health.

A much higher rate might not be enough for a building that is seeing all its absenteeism in just one or two classrooms, according to local officials.

Local officials say decisions to close schools are being weighed on a case-by-case basis. And in some cases, there might be multiple factors and reasons for closing a school.

"We closed the school to break the cycle of infection," said St. Johns Superintendent Ken Ladouceur, speaking about the decision to shut East Olive.

Clinton County health officials, however, said the primary reason for shutting the school was that the loss of students caused classroom disruptions.

Normally this time of year schools experience an average absentee rate of 10 percent. East Olive hit the 30 percent mark, but other schools are seeing worse, though.

In East Lansing, for example, absenteeism was at 32 percent at Marble Elementary, officials there said Tuesday.

The school didn't close, which appears to follow Ing-ham County health guidelines. Officials say that closing a school doesn't really stop kids from getting sick, because H1N1 is everywhere in the community.

State health experts are largely blaming the swine flu for the latest round of illnesses, calling it the second wave of sickness.

The first hit in April, according to Wells.

Some districts lucky

Some districts appear barely affected.

Lansing schools, for example, reported they have lost only 2.6 percent of their faculty and students to flu-like symptoms. Elsewhere, illnesses have risen noticeably - and just within the past week.

"We had a marked uptick in the numbers of schools experiencing a high level of absenteeism," Wells said.

Ingham County officials want schools and businesses to follow a flu-free policy, meaning the businesses shouldn't let people work or attend classes, if the they have flu-like symptoms.

"That will really slow this thing down," said Marcus Cheatham, assistant deputy health officer with the county Health Department. "It won't stop it, but it will slow it down."

Fatal disease

H1N1 can be deadly. Since April, 15 people in the state have died in connection with flu-like symptoms.

One person was from Eaton County and is the only flu victim to have died in mid-Michigan. Most of the rest passed away in the southeastern part of the state.

All were adults, and two thirds had underlying medical issues, state officials say.

The good news is that the H1N1 virus that is circulating in Michigan has not grown in virulence and has not shown resistance to anti-viral medications.

Unfortunately, in some people it can develop into a nasty viral pneumonia, and while good handwashing and avoiding sick people is a good way to keep from getting sick, the flu is not always predictable.

"With flu," Wells said, "prepare to be surprised."
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps ... e=printart

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Absenteeism Forces More Mid-Michigan Schools to Close
Marble Elementary in East Lansing and Scott Elementary in DeWitt are on a growing list of districts to close schools due to illness.

Video at link below

http://www.wilx.com/schools/headlines/6 ... n=comments

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Read Comments
Comments are posted from viewers like you and do not always reflect the views of this station.
Posted by: John Location: Lansing on Oct 21, 2009 at 09:06 PM

Andrea, why are you so excited about a flu case? Nearly everyone will be exposed to the virus and 25%-30% of the population will actually get sick. H1N1 is not the 'killer' the media has made it out to be. A normal, generally healthy person will be sick for a few days and get better without any medical care; just rest and fluids. Vacciations for the 'non at risk' people will not be widely available until late November (at best). To type "CONFIRMED H1N1 case" with multiple exclamations points is completely useless. You are seriously overreacting. Calm down people it will be okay:-)

Posted by: Barb Location: Westland on Oct 21, 2009 at 05:37 PM

Kathy--you should see the list of schools closed further west of you...it is just heading east; there will be more. If a school is below 75% attendance I believe they can't count it as a day of instruction anyway, so it would have to be counted as a "snow day". Might as well just close the school and hopefully stop the spread of it if it looks like they won't have enough kids to count the day.

Posted by: Julie Location: Dewitt on Oct 21, 2009 at 05:12 PM

Kathy, the problem with your comment is that people are sending their children to school SICK, which is getting all the other kids SICK. If people could just use their heads and keep their sick kids home for a day or two, none of the closings would be necessary!

Posted by: Brandy Location: Olivet on Oct 21, 2009 at 04:46 PM

There are confirmed H1N1 cases all over.... the fact that they're confirmed isn't news anymore. What's interesting to me is the spread from west to east ... Kalamazoo schools have been closing since Monday or Tuesday. And yes, it may be a "better safe than sorry" approach at this point, but as a mom of 4, one of them being under 6 months (and therefore unable to get EITHER of the flu shots) I don't want other people's kids coughing and wiping their noses all over and sending germs home with my kids.

Posted by: jen on Oct 21, 2009 at 04:34 PM

Kathy Dear ---Michigan people are not whimps, We wouldn't survive living here if we were. But this H1N1 is nothing to play with,I'm glad our schools are doing what they can to help my kids from getting this flu, I know it isn't an easy decission to make, but Hats off and prayers for those are doing their best for us.

Posted by: Andrea Location: Charlotte on Oct 21, 2009 at 04:05 PM

What Channel 10 isn't telling you is that Hasting Schools are closed because a student was hospitalized with CONFIRMED H1N1 case!!! Imagine that

Posted by: Kathy Location: Eaton Rapids on Oct 21, 2009 at 03:32 PM

Do you think that maybe people are blowing this way out of proportion? Someone gets the sniffles and needs to stay home for a week. No, I don't want to be subjected to someone who has a confirmed case of the flu... but I think that we are turning into a nation of wimps!

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East Lansing’s Marble Elementary and DeWitt's Scott Elementary are the latest mid-Michigan school to shutter as a result of H1N1 infections.


Marble will close Thursday and Friday due to high absenteeism, according to school officials. The school has 359 students in kindergarten through fourth grades, and 109 were absent today. Many of those students’ families reported that their children were experiencing flu-like symptoms.


At Scott Elementary in DeWitt, which will remain closed until Monday, 127 out of 512 kids were out sick today, officials said.


Lansing Christian School, a private, 599-student school had a 26 percent absentee rate on Tuesday, up from 18 percent on Friday, officials said, and closed beginning today. About 50 percent of its middle school-age students were out ill. The school will reopen on Monday. In the meantime, its day care remains open to children who are well.


Earlier this week a St. Johns elementary school closed due to the flu.


“You walk into a class and you see five bright-eyed students and five who should be home in bed and a teacher who is starting to get sick,” said Lansing Christian Superintendent Pam Campbell.


As a result of missing several days of school, students were starting to fall behind academically, and Campbell and others decided to close so that students didn’t fall behind.


The reasoning is in keeping with that of Ingham County health officials who advise schools that closing doesn’t prevent the spread of the illness and should be made more as an academic or business decision.


Officials with the St. Johns school district and the Mid-Michigan Health Department said East Olive Elementary School was closed to break the cycle of infection and because it was too difficult to properly run the school with so many people out sick.


East Olive experienced about a 30 percent absenteeism rate right before the decision was made Monday to close. The 166-student elementary will reopen Monday.


http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/arti ... correction

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People need to read up on Probiotics and vitamin D-3. I understand the following: Probiotics keep your gut healthy. This is major, since 70% of your immune system is affected by the health of your gut. The other thing we need on board, but do not get a lot of in Michigan, in vitamin D-3. People can get this from the sun, but since our Michigan winters do not produce a lot of sun, we need to supplement. Try to avoid sugar--it causes an inflamatory response in the body--not good when trying to ward off flu. I have been on these supplements for more than a year, and I am not getting sick. If I do, I expect the illness to be minimal. Finally, don't get the H1N1 vaccines!
10/22/2009 8:16:17 AM People need to read up on Probiotics and vitamin D-3. I understand the following: Probiotics keep your gut healthy. This is major, since 70% of your immune system is affected by the health of your gut. The other thing we need on board, but do not get a lot of in Michigan, in vitamin D-3. People can get this from the sun, but since our Michigan winters do not produce a lot of sun, we need to supplement. Try to avoid sugar--it causes an inflamatory response in the body--not good when trying to ward off flu. I have been on these supplements for more than a year, and I am not getting sick. If I do, I expect the illness to be minimal. Finally, don't get the H1N1 vaccines! quintessentially
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quintessentially wrote:

Replying to islandrascal:

Replying to quintessentially:

Replying to parrot4:

i have a question: what are the chances of getting the swine flu more than once in a season? If it is so rampant right now, maybe the swine flu shot is worthless.



Do ya think? Yep--you've probably already been exposed! Why bother to shoot unknown chemicals into your body, now? Just put on your big kid pants and ride it out!



I have been sick for 15 days and am finally feeling 95% back to normal. Taking 1 tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar (with the "mother"), mixed with 1 tbsp. honey ( prefer raw), 3 times a day, has worked miracles for me in the past week. This gets rid of the phlegm and cough. You just have to be consistent with the doses.

Glad you are getting better. Do you take supplements as well? Continuing in next post...
10/22/2009 8:05:04 AM <p class="replyingto">Replying to <span class="author">islandrascal</span>:</p><blockquote><p class="replyingto">Replying to <span class="author">quintessentially</span>:</p><blockquote><p class="replyingto">Replying to <span class="author">parrot4</span>:</p><blockquote>i have a question: what are the chances of getting the swine flu more than once in a season? If it is so rampant right now, maybe the swine flu shot is worthless.</blockquote><br /><br /><br />Do ya think? Yep--you've probably already been exposed! Why bother to shoot unknown chemicals into your body, now? Just put on your big kid pants and ride it out!</blockquote><br /><br /><br />I have been sick for 15 days and am finally feeling 95% back to normal. Taking 1 tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar (with the "mother"), mixed with 1 tbsp. honey ( prefer raw), 3 times a day, has worked miracles for me in the past week. This gets rid of the phlegm and cough. You just have to be consistent with the doses.</blockquote><br />Glad you are getting better. Do you take supplements as well? Continuing in next post... quintessentially
Recommend New post Reply to this Post Report Abuse

islandrascal wrote:

Replying to quintessentially:

Replying to parrot4:

i have a question: what are the chances of getting the swine flu more than once in a season? If it is so rampant right now, maybe the swine flu shot is worthless.



Do ya think? Yep--you've probably already been exposed! Why bother to shoot unknown chemicals into your body, now? Just put on your big kid pants and ride it out!



I have been sick for 15 days and am finally feeling 95% back to normal. Taking 1 tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar (with the "mother"), mixed with 1 tbsp. honey ( prefer raw), 3 times a day, has worked miracles for me in the past week. This gets rid of the phlegm and cough. You just have to be consistent with the doses.
10/21/2009 11:56:00 PM <p class="replyingto">Replying to <span class="author">quintessentially</span>:</p><blockquote><p class="replyingto">Replying to <span class="author">parrot4</span>:</p><blockquote>i have a question: what are the chances of getting the swine flu more than once in a season? If it is so rampant right now, maybe the swine flu shot is worthless.</blockquote><br /><br /><br />Do ya think? Yep--you've probably already been exposed! Why bother to shoot unknown chemicals into your body, now? Just put on your big kid pants and ride it out!</blockquote><br /><br /><br />I have been sick for 15 days and am finally feeling 95% back to normal. Taking 1 tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar (with the "mother"), mixed with 1 tbsp. honey ( prefer raw), 3 times a day, has worked miracles for me in the past week. This gets rid of the phlegm and cough. You just have to be consistent with the doses. islandrascal
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islandrascal wrote:

Replying to epiperson:

Replying to islandrascal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgw2OiRcUWc

DON'T TAKE THE H1N1 VACCINE!!!!


It's comforting to know that people are willing to believe some random guy on You Tube who makes a video, but not actual health professionals and reputable health organizations.





How about New York medical professionals against the vaccine?
http://wcbstv.com/local/mandatory.h1n1. ... 52672.html
10/21/2009 11:40:14 PM <p class="replyingto">Replying to <span class="author">epiperson</span>:</p><blockquote><p class="replyingto">Replying to <span class="author">islandrascal</span>:</p><blockquote>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgw2OiRcUWc<br /><br />DON'T TAKE THE H1N1 VACCINE!!!!</blockquote><br /><br />It's comforting to know that people are willing to believe some random guy on You Tube who makes a video, but not actual health professionals and reputable health organizations.</blockquote><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />How about New York medical professionals against the vaccine?<br />http://wcbstv.com/local/mandatory.h1n1.vaccine.2.1252672.html islandrascal
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rosiethecat wrote:

Replying to ruinsane:

Replying to rosiethecat:

I am not an expert or anything but I would say if you live anywhere around Lansing you are probably exposed and if you are not sick get on your knees and THANK THE LORD JESUS.


Should we do the same if we are sick?


Yes, even more so although knees are not required LOL. I should have said thank whomever you thank in times of good fortune. Jesus is mine.

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The 2009 flu season race is on — and it looks as if the H1N1 virus has arrived in local schools, a mere nose length ahead of the vaccine designed to beat it.
Linden, Holly and Grand Blanc this week were the first local school districts reporting H1N1 cases.

There have been no school closings as a result, but in Mount Pleasant, where there has been high absenteeism but no confirmed H1N1 cases, the school district closed schools for the rest of the week. Schools in the Lansing and Midland areas also have closed.

For the first time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has implemented a national school dismissal reporting system to track the effects of the virus.

The presence of the H1N1 virus alone won’t force school closures, but high absenteeism could result in closings — and that’s likely to happen, said Genesee County Health Department epidemiologist Fatema Mamou.

More than 2 percent of the county’s student population was home sick with an influenzalike illness last week, said Mamou — nearly double the rate during the same week last year. Even higher absences are expected when this week’s numbers are reported Monday.

Since H1N1 is the dominant flu virus this season, causing 99 percent of influenza cases, it’s likely that a high number of the sick students could have H1N1. The low rate of confirmed H1N1 cases is simply because doctors are no longer being asked to order the expensive lab tests.

The good news is H1N1 appears to be milder than conventional seasonal flu and doesn’t usually require treatment beyond normal flu measures.

Young people ages 6 months to 24 years will be among those first in line to get the shot since they’re most likely to be infected and to transmit the virus.

According to the CDC, 151,200 doses of H1N1 vaccine had been shipped to Michigan as of Oct. 14, but no word has been posted yet on its arrival at the county level or actual dates and sites for the first public vaccine clinics.

The health department, McLaren Visiting Nurse & Hospice and other partners are working with school officials on plans for on-site clinics as soon as the vaccine arrives.

“The goal is to have the parents with the kids since parental consent is required, so we’re hoping to focus on high schools as the sites since they get out the earliest. Then as parents pick up their younger students, they can bring them, too,” said Evilia Jankowski, Genesee Intermediate School District school health services coordinator. “The goal at this point is to try to get at least one clinic per district to start.”

Charter and private schools will be included in the districts in which they are located. Larger districts may have more than one clinic.

Local schools reporting H1N1 cases are following cleaning protocols recommended by public health experts and advising parents to keep sick children home 24 hours after a fever subsides.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.s ... healt.html

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More mid-Michigan schools are closing due to flu-like illnesses that forcing students to stay home.

Leslie Public Schools announced Thursday that the entire district would close on Friday. School administrator tell WILX.com that sixty percent of the middle school was absent Thursday, 92 elementary students stayed home and high school absences at the high school have been over 100 each day this week.

The Summit Christian Academy in East Lansing will also be closed on Friday. The school says it has absences throughout its 12 grades, but the elementary classes are especially hard hit with about half of its 43 students reporting illness.

And the Battle Creek Public School District will be closed on Friday. Two schools had been closed Thursday, but administrators decided to call off classes district wide due to spreading absenteeism.

The Northwest School District in Jackson county resumed classes after being closed for two days.

Other schools that are closed include:

Marble Elementary School in East Lansing-classes should resume Monday.
Scott Elementary School in DeWitt-classes should resume Monday.
Homer Community Schools-classes should resume Monday.
Lansing Christian-should resume on Monday.
Paragon Academy-should resume on Monday.
Pittsford District-should resume on Monday.
East Olive Elementary in St. Johns district-should resume on Monday.

http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/65608247.html

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