Flu Education/Information
Flu cases are on the rise in area. The information below will help educate school administration, teachers, staff, and parents to prevent and cope with the flu.
Parent Education:
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Symptoms and Emergency Warning SignsThe symptoms of flu can include: (Click Here for TN Health Department Resources)
- Fever (although not everyone with flu has a fever)
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Body aches
- Headache
- Chills
- Tiredness
- Sometimes diarrhea and vomiting
- In children:
- Fast breathing or trouble breathing
- Bluish skin color
- Not drinking enough fluids
- Not waking up or not interacting
- Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
- Flu-like symptoms that improve but then return with fever and worse cough
- Fever with rash
- In addition to the signs above, get medical help right away for any infant who has any of these signs:
- Being unable to eat
- Has trouble breathing
- Has no tears when crying
- Has significantly fewer wet diapers than normal
- In adults:
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
- Sudden dizziness
- Confusion
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Flu-like symptoms that improve but then return with fever and worse cough
Preventing Seasonal Flu with Vaccination
- Encourage students, parents, and staff to take everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs.
- Encourage students and staff to stay home when sick.
- Teach students, parents, and staff the importance of staying home when sick until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.8 degrees Celsius, measured by mouth) or signs of a fever (chills, feeling very warm, flushed appearance, or sweating) without the use of fever-reducing medicine.
- Review school policies, and consider revising those that make it difficult for students and staff to stay home when sick or when caring for others who are sick.
- Implement flexible sick leave policies for students and staff.
- Avoid the use of perfect attendance awards.
- Cross-train staff so that others can cover for co-workers who need to stay home.
- Encourage respiratory etiquette among students and staff through education and the provision of supplies. See Cover Your Cough.
- Teach students and staff to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or their arm. If they use a tissue, they should put the used tissue in a trash can and wash their hands.
- Provide adequate supplies within easy reach, including tissues and no-touch trash cans.
- Encourage hand hygiene among students and staff through education, scheduled time for hand-washing, and the provision of supplies. See Hand-Eashing: Clean Hands Save Lives.
- Teach students and staff to wash hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, dry hands with a paper towel, and use the paper towel to turn off the faucet. If soap and water are not available and hands are not visibly dirty, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol may be used.
- Include hand-washing time in student schedules.
- Provide adequate supplies, including clean and functional hand-washing stations, soap, paper towels, and alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Encourage students and staff to keep their hands away from their nose, mouth, and eyes.
- Encourage routine surface cleaning through education, policy, and the provision of supplies. See How To Clean and Disinfect Schools To Help Slow the Spread of Flu.
- Routinely clean surfaces and objects that are touched often, such as desks, countertops, doorknobs, computer keyboards, hands-on learning items, faucet handles, and phones. Empty trash cans as needed.
- Use general cleaning products that you normally use. Always follow product label directions. Additional disinfection beyond routine cleaning is not recommended.
- Provide adequate supplies, such as general EPA-registered cleaning products, gloves, disinfecting wipes, and no-touch trash cans.
- Match your cleaning activities to the types of germs you want to remove or kill.
- Flu viruses are relatively fragile, so standard practices, such as cleaning with soap and water, can help remove and kill them.
- Studies have shown that the flu virus can live and potentially infect a person for only 2 to 8 hours after being deposited on a surface. Therefore, special sanitizing processes beyond routine cleaning, including closing schools to clean every surface in the building, are not necessary or recommended to slow the spread of flu, even during a flu outbreak.
- Some schools may include other cleaning and disinfecting practices in their standard procedures to address germs that are not removed or killed by soap and water alone.
Everyday Preventive Actions That Can Help Fight Germs, Like Flu[1.5 MB, 2 pages, 8 ½” x 11”] . - Encourage students and staff to stay home when sick.
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