Current Conditions
55°F - SUNNY
(619) (107) (103) (57) (42) (41) (25) (19) (16) (14) (2)
No Donegal students have been diagnosed with H1N1 influenza, commonly called swine flu, but elevated absences at the middle school prompted the district to close the school as a precaution.
Because Riverview is connected to the middle school, it, too, was closed, superintendent Shelly Riedel said.
The district also sent middle school students home at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, 2½ hours earlier than normal.
The actions were taken after school officials consulted with the state Department of Health about the relatively high number of sick middle school students.
On Tuesday, school nurse Lisa Albert noticed about 10 percent of the school's roughly 600 students were absent, Riedel said. The normal rate for this time of year is 5 percent.
"In the wintertime, that's not that unusual, but at this time of year, it drew our attention," she said.
Albert notified the principal, who contacted Riedel.
Donegal then consulted with health department officials, who spoke with the families of about 20 sick middle school students Tuesday afternoon and evening to find out what symptoms the pupils had.
Riedel said there were "some flu-like symptoms scattered among the children." Among the symptoms associated with the flu are body aches, fever, coughs, fatigue, headaches, sore throats, runny noses and, in some cases, diarrhea.
The health department recommended Donegal close the middle school, and the district began contacting parents about 10 a.m. Wednesday through an automated phone alert system. It also notified media outlets of the closing.
Wednesday afternoon, district officials evaluated attendance rates at its other schools to determine if any of them also should be closed.
The rates "were very consistent with what we'd expect this time of year," Riedel said.
Riverview's numbers were only slightly elevated — 14 of 248 students, or 5.6 percent, were absent. But because the school is connected to the middle school, Donegal decided to cancel classes there today.
All other Donegal schools will be open today, the last day of the school year. All students are scheduled to be dismissed at 11:30 a.m.
Riedel said the district may never find out if any of the sick middle school students had the swine flu because the health department didn't test them, and their families aren't required to share their children's medical results with school officials.
Riedel praised the school nursing staff for responding quickly to the threat of an outbreak.
"I want to give them all the credit," she said. "I'm very pleased that we felt the system worked the way it was supposed to work."
Donegal is the only public school district in Lancaster County to close a school because of concerns about swine flu.
This week, York City School District closed two of its schools after a student tested positive for the flu, and a private Christian school in York closed after several students developed flu-like symptoms.
Hundreds of schools nationwide have been closed since April, when the H1N1 virus began spreading across the United States.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 19,000 cases of the flu have been confirmed worldwide, and 117 deaths have been linked to the illness.
E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com
