Lucas, Crestview and Crestline local school districts have announced they will be closed on Friday due to student illness.
Crestview Supt. Randy Dunlap said at least 130 students have missed school for the past five days.
“That’s not the biggest problem though,” he said. “The issue is students coming back and getting new illnesses.”
Dunlap said he has spoken with other school districts about the uptick in winter illnesses.
“This is the first time I have closed the school down for illness,” he said. “This is rare, but we had 180 kids out yesterday. I hate to say it, but we need the cold weather to come in and freeze everything.”
The superintendent said he hopes the district’s 1,000-plus students will be back and healthy Monday after the 72-hour district shutdown.
Lucas is closing Friday in a proactive effort to stop illness throughout the campus, according to Supt. Brad Herman.
Herman said administrators from each building met Thursday morning to discuss closing in an attempt to keep ill students at home and reduce the potential of spreading germs.
“We’ve had a sizable number of students and staff sick,” Herman said. “The numbers have ranged from about 10 percent to 20 percent of our students.”
The district has just more than 500 students. Officials hope to re-open as normal on Monday.
“This is a proactive approach to keep them home and away from each other. We are also canceling all weekend activities at the school. We plan to do a deep cleaning in the buildings to make it safe again. We hope to have them back and feeling better next week,” Herman said.
Herman said some students had given doctor’s notes regarding flu-like symptoms. Others may just have colds.
The district will use a calamity day Friday, equivalent to a snow day.
Crestline announced late Thursday afternoon it will be closed on Friday and that all athletic events over the weekend are being rescheduled.
According to data compiled by public health nursing at Richland Public Health, flu season has arrived in Richland County.
“We have started to see positive test results and hospitalizations due to influenza in the past three weeks,” says Emily Leedy, epidemiologist at Richland Public Health.
Numbers from December showed nine flu-related hospitalizations locally. There have been 13 more flu-related hospitalizations in area hospitals in just the first two weeks of January.
Influenza is a potentially serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death (there has been one child death from influenza in Ohio this year).
Every flu season is different, and influenza infection can affect people differently, but millions of people get the flu every year. An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to help protect against flu.
The most common strain of influenza this year has been type B but most of the hospitalizations have been from type A.
While the symptoms of influenza B mirrors those of A, the main difference between the two strains is who it can affect. Strains of influenza B are exclusively contracted by humans, while A can be carried (and spread) by animals.
However, both strains are transmitted mainly by respiratory droplets from coughing and contact with an infected person.
Flu shots protect against both strains of influenza, and despite rumors to the contrary, the current flu vaccine does include immunity against both strains. Therefore, it’s not too late to get your yearly flu vaccine to possibly avoid getting sick. And, even if you do catch the flu later, your symptoms may be milder and not last as long.
“We still have a good supply of flu vaccine at our public health clinic, including the high dose for seniors (age 65 and older),” Amy Schmidt, director of nursing at Richland Public Health, said.
Walk-ins are welcome. To shorten wait times, you can also schedule a flu shot at a time convenient for you by calling 419-774-4700.
