Fairfax County Public Schools

H1N1 Swine Flu

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) partners with the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) to monitor the progression of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza (swine flu). The Fairfax County Health Department follows the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and provides recommendations to the school system.

It is our goal to promote good health for students in our school system and to manage communicable diseases. We have been working with the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) to monitor trends of student absences using the Health Department-School Illness Monitoring System (HD-SIMS).

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE FLU

Wash your hands

Wash your hands often, scrubbing your hands together for 20 seconds with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective. Parents should model this behavior to their children.

Cover your cough

Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing, or cough into your upper sleeve, not into your hands.

Stay home if you're sick

The Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) recommends that students or staff with influenza-like symptoms (fever with a cough or sore throat) stay at home and out of school until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever, or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medicines.
If students have flu-like symptoms, they should not participate in any school activities, in school-aged child care (SACC) or be out in the community except to seek medical care.
If a child appears to have an influenza-like illness when he or she arrives at school, a parent or guardian will be notified and asked to pick up the child.
Parents should ensure that their emergency information is up to date and that they pick up their children when notified.
When calling the school attendance line to report your child’s illness, parents should provide specific information about their child’s reason for absence. If the child is ill, please be specific as to a physician’s diagnosis such as strep throat or pink eye. If the child has not seen a physician, please be specific about the symptoms your child is having such as fever, cough, sore throat, headache, diarrhea or vomiting.

COMMUNICATIONS AND RESOURCES