Cold, flu, other illnesses sending more students home for longer
Published 12:00 am Friday, February 7, 2003
The common cold and the flu have caused absenteeism to rise during the last week in Vicksburg and Warren County schools.
“We’re seeing more students this year than we have in years past,” said Vicksburg Warren School District Nurse Cynthia Nash. “And they’re staying sick for longer periods of time.”
She said students are staying sick for a week instead of the usual 24 to 48 hours.
Catherine Jobe, Vicksburg Intermediate and Dana Road Elementary schools’ nurse, said some children are complaining of headaches, fever and sore throats, while others are experiencing upset stomachs, nausea and vomiting.
Jobe said whether she sends a student home depends on the symptoms.
“The kids will tell you if they feel like they need to go home, or they’ll tell you they think they can stay,” she said.
However, if a student has a fever of a 100 degrees or more and is feeling bad, she sends the student home and recommends they see a doctor.
Almost 8 percent of the Vicksburg Warren School district’s 8,932 students were absent Wednesday. That number is down from Monday when 10 percent of students were absent, said Superintendent Donald Oakes.
He said an increase in absences is normal for this time of year, but percentages this high are unusual.
“We don’t want kids who are sick and contagious coming in, but we encourage parents to send children if at all possible,” Oakes said.
Porters Chapel Academy Principal Dr. Gwen Reiber said 52 of the school’s 308 students were absent Wednesday, but the number of absences was down from Friday, when 73 students missed school.
“It’s not just one thing,” she said. “One student has been hospitalized with pneumonia, two were diagnosed with pneumonia and a couple were diagnosed with influenza.”
She said six out of 25 teachers were absent last week.
Beechwood Elementary School Principal Jack Grogan said the number of absences in the school is higher than normal.
About 55 of the school’s 620 students were absent Friday and again on Monday, he said.
“That’s higher than normal,” he said. “The average this time of year is about 30 or 35.”
Sharkey-Issaquena Academy closed its doors Jan. 17 due to high volumes of students being ill. The school has about 220 students, and a spokesman for the school said about 50 students had been absent each day for about two weeks before the closure.
Some doctors’ offices around the city have been crowded this week with complaints of the same symptoms reported in the schools.
“We’ve been swamped with phone calls and appointments,” said Dr. Susan Chiarito, who practices at the Mission Primary Care Clinic. “Patients are complaining of bronchitis, sinus infections and influenza.”
Dr. William Grantham, a physician with the MEA Medical Clinic in Clinton, said this latest outbreak of viruses is one of the largest in recent years.
If children develop a fever, cough and generalized aches, they should see a doctor immediately, he said.
“They should go ahead and get on some anti-flu medicine and also check to make sure it’s not strep or pneumonia.”