The following information from the Contra Costa County Health Services Department provides parents and students heading back to school with some important information on H1N1 flu.

 

*** The attached flyer below contains important information about H1N1 and when to go to the doctor or the emergency room.

 

As children return to school and spend less time outdoors and more time in confined spaces, such as classrooms, we expect to see more illness caused by H1N1 flu.

H1N1 flu is assumed to be present throughout Contra Costa County. Students in Contra Costa County will not be dismissed for cases of H1N1 influenza, unless there is a large number of students or faculty who are ill which interferes with the school's ability to function. Contra Costa Health Services will consider school and childcare dismissal on an individual basis, taking into consideration health information available at the time.

 

Please Follow These Prevention Tips:

When using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer:

 

Avoid Contact with Sick People

Try to avoid close contact (within six feet) with anyone who is sick with the flu. People of any age with chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease), pregnant women, young children and people 65 years and older should be especially careful. Infants should not be cared for by sick family members.

 

Stay Home if Sick

If your child is sick, keep them home.  Students can return to school after they have been fever free without the use of fever –reducing medications for at least 24 hours. A doctor's note is not necessary to return to school.  

 

Cover Coughs and Sneezes

H1N1 spreads from person to person in the same way as seasonal flu: through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. The influenza virus is put into the air and inhaled by those nearby or picked up from surfaces where the virus might have landed.

 

Teach children to cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough or sneeze. Make sure they throw the tissue in the trash after they've used it and wash their hands the right way.

 

If tissue is not available, teach children the "Dracula cough," cough or sneeze into their inner elbow or upper arm like Dracula hides his face.

 

Get Vaccinated

Although we don't know when H1N1 flu vaccine will be available, there will be seasonal flu vaccine available in the fall. Seasonal flu vaccine doesn't protect against H1N1 flu, but it does protect you from seasonal influenza viruses. Every year, 36,000 people die from illness related to seasonal flu in the United States.

 

The seasonal flu vaccine is recommended for all children ages 6 months to 19 years. This is because, as we learned with H1N1 flu, children often get the flu at school, and then can bring it home to the family. We especially want to protect younger siblings and older relatives with weaker immune systems who can have serious complications from the flu. Flu vaccine keeps children healthy and prevents them from spreading the flu to others.

 

Seasonal flu vaccine is also recommended for almost everyone else in our community—especially pregnant women, those who are 50 years and older, health care workers, those who care for children under 5 years old, and everyone who has a chronic illness, such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease.

 

To find out where to get seasonal flu vaccine for you and your family, contact your health care provider or health plan. You can also call the Public Health Flu Hotline at 925-313-6469 or visit www.flucliniclocator.org.