Washing hands many times a day could keep the H1N1 virus at bay.

Not exactly a nursery rhyme, but it’s a key part of the Sooke School District’s emerging strategy to manage a flu pandemic.

The district is installing hand sanitizers in every classroom of every school where there isn’t already a sink. School cleanliness in general is being ramped up and students, teachers and staff are being encouraged to wash their hands often, said superintendent Jim Cambridge.

“We are out to change student behaviour and to keep schools clean,” Cambridge said. “We’ve started a campaign around hand washing and schools are making sure things like soap dispensers are full.”

At Happy Valley elementary, for instance, principal Linda Magiera said teachers are aware and involved in teaching kids good hand washing practices.

“You can’t teach if the kids aren’t safe and healthy,” Magiera said. “If that means washing hands more, that is what we are going to do.”

The cleanliness campaign is being driven by concerns from provincial heath officials that the H1N1 virus, also known as the human swine flu, could erupt into a full-blown health-care crisis.

SD 62 has formed a stakeholder group to develop strategies and policies on how to communicate with parents, staff and health authorities, and how to manage various levels of flu outbreak, among other details.

Cambridge said they are looking at a vaccination and immunization program for later in the fall. They are also tracking how much money they are spending on pandemic-related costs, he said.

“We’re a bit like a disaster planning group,” Cambridge said. “We’re hoping most of the actions planned out will never have to be taken.

“If there’s any upside to this, it may reduce the number of kids away due to seasonal influenza.”

The H1N1 flu is characterized by a fever, sore throat, aches and chills, symptoms not much different from seasonal influenza. It’s spread person to person mainly by coughing and sneezing.

In May, the Vancouver Island Health Authority closed Hans Helgesen elementary for a few days after a H1N1 scare, although closing schools isn’t expected during a H1N1 outbreak, Cambridge said.

“Schools may end up being the safest public place to be. We have more (cleanliness) control than a theatre, a mall or library,” he said. “Closing a school won’t solve the problem, it will just push people to other places.”

For more on the H1N1 flu virus, see www.gov.bc.ca/h1n1.

editor@goldstreamgazette.com