Letter to Parents: Nathaniel Hawthorne Student Confirmed as H1N1 Case
by Jim Jennings
September 18, 2009
Dear Parents and Guardians:
This letter is to inform you that at the end of the day yesterday, September 17, we were notified that a student at Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary School was diagnosed with the H1N1 influenza virus (also known as “swine flu”). We are following the guidelines provided by the St. Louis County Health Department and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and we are working with them to monitor this case of H1N1. The school will remain open and operating normally.
The best way to reduce the spread of H1N1 or any other virus is to practice good hygiene, and we encourage you to remind your children to wash their hands often, keep their hands away from their eyes, nose, and mouth, and cover coughs and sneezes with their sleeve or a tissue. For more prevention tips, visit the CDC website: www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/.
Please keep your child home from school if he or she shows any flu symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills, and fatigue, and contact your health care provider and the school immediately.
Students who come to school with flu symptoms will be evaluated by our nursing staff and sent to a room separate from others until he or she can be sent home. Students with the flu should stay home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines.
For more information about H1N1 and seasonal flu viruses, visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu, www.flu.gov, and www.co.st-louis.mo.us/Doh/Flu/New_H1N1.htm. To learn more about the precautions our schools are taking, visit www.ucityschools.org/vnews/display.v/ART/4aa901ff08209.
Let us assure you that the health and well being of our students is our highest priority, and we are doing everything possible to address the situation. Please feel free to contact your child’s school if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Joylynn Wilson
Superintendent of Schools
School District of University City
