HEALTH: Schools’ prevention of H1N1 ‘impressive’
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Updated: November 04, 2009 5:37 PM
Top VIHA doc commends schools’ hygiene practices
Hallways are lined with posters shouting: “Hand washing is very groovy, baby.” Hoodies are speckled with buttons featuring clean hands making a peace sign.
It’s either retro-revival week at Greater Victoria schools – or it’s flu season.
“We asked our (school) leadership groups to design posters,” said John Gaiptman, superintendent for the Greater Victoria school district.
“We really want our students to be reminded constantly about hand washing, coughing into the crook of their elbow, using disposable tissues. We’re seeing better hygiene practices in schools than anywhere else.”
Dr. Richard Stanwick, chief medical health officer for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, agrees, calling hygiene at schools “impressive.”
“They are doing very well,” he said of South Island schools. “We used to use our schools as a way to see whether influenza had arrived. The good news is (schools are) a poor indicator this year, which is a great phenomenon.”
Gaiptman said schools have been recording more absences than last year. A policy of “if you’re not feeling well, stay home” contributes partly to that, he said.
But the difference in absenteeism over last year isn’t huge – about 10 per cent. For most schools, that’s one or two more students staying home sick. The reasons why students stay home aren’t recorded by the district.
The school district has spent $5,000 installing 380 hand sanitizer dispensers in its nearly 50 schools. Teachers and staff have been asked to set an example for students by using the sanitizer and washing their hands often.
With a shortage of the H1N1 vaccine in Canada, Gaiptman wonders how long schools can keep up this pace of good hygiene.
“I gotta tell you, we are ready for the vaccine,” he said. “We just feel like sometimes we’re the finger in the dike holding back the water. I’m very worried that, at some point, it’s going to hit many of us.”
Emergency departments overrun with flu patients
VIHA is asking people with mild to moderate flu symptoms to stay away from emergency wards.
Emergency rooms at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals have seen high volumes of flu patients who could be cared for at home, a public service announcement stated Tuesday.
“By visiting emergency departments with mild symptoms, people are actually exposing others to the flu virus,” it said. “Supportive care at home – resting, drinking plenty of fluids and using a pain reliever for aches – is adequate for recovery in most cases.”
A person with the flu is contagious for 24 hours before they get sick and for seven days afterward. For that reason, VIHA reiterated its call for people who get sick to stay away from work or school for a week.
For information about H1N1 virus symptoms and how to protect against getting the virus, visit www.viha.ca/h1n1/
–with files from Don Descoteau
ecardone@vicnews.com
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