One ‘import’,and flu spreads

It emerged that the 14-year-old contracted the disease during a family vacation in Malaysia and Singapore. Four other families had also gone there.

And the cycle had begun
Soon,there were cases being reported from Springdales School (Pusa Road,St Thomas School,St Columba’s School (Mandir Marg),Vasant Valley School,Sri Ram School,Sachdeva Public School (Pitampura),and DPS-Saket.

Almost three weeks on,Dr Anjan Prakash,additional nodal officer for swine flu in Delhi,said 35 schoolchildren in Delhi have tested positive for the deadly H1N1 influenza. While 29 have been discharged,six are admitted in various hospitals,he added.

As the disease spread,students who had not been abroad also began contracting the virus. Next,many schools asked students from whole sections to stay home to stop the virus from spreading. Buses in which these students travelled were kept off the school premises,and drivers and teachers were asked to rest and report any “flu-like symptoms”. Notices and circulars,DOs and Don’ts lists began making the rounds.

But while Pune,which has reported 110 confirmed H1N1 flu cases,saw many schools shut for days,those in the Capital did not close en masse.

“Issuing circulars and guidelines to schools or closing them would only make parents and students panic,” Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia reasoned. “Our contact-tracing is very tight and we are trying our best to trace contacts of cases that have tested positive.”

Many principals also opposed the idea of closing schools. Springdales School,Pusa Road,principal Ameeta Wattal said,“Shutting schools is not the solution. Children go to tuition centres and other places and they can get infected anywhere; so why shut schools?”

Lata Vaidyanathan,her counterpart in Modern School,Barakhamba Road,also said the same.

At risk: the young
While it is universally held that the young are more at risk of contracting the disease,the World Heath Organization (WHO) has kicked off a debate with its report that the age group of affected persons is increasing. Though the WHO website says the median age reported in most countries affected by H1N1 influenza is 12 to 17 years,it also says,“As the disease expands broadly into communities,the average age of cases is appearing to increase slightly.”

Why the young are at risk
A doctor associated with the Delhi Health Department said schoolchildren are more at risk of getting the flu since they move in groups. “They can easily become targets and so transmission is also easy,” he said. That,he said,is also the case worldwide.

Meanwhile,a report in the British newspaper Guardian suggests that soft toys in nursery schools can spread H1N1 virus among children. “Nurseries should take soft toys away from children and discourage them from sharing crayons to stop the spread of swine flu,” the report said.

The newspaper also offered guidance for schools and nurseries: “Discourage sharing of pencils,crayons and pens during a pandemic. Encourage wiping and cleaning of hands and objects when passing around objects like musical instruments or toys. Because of the difficulty in cleaning soft toys adequately,remove communal soft toys.

“Do not allow children to share wind instruments.”

Measures taken by schools
* Springdales School,Pusa Road,has staggered break and dispersal timings of different classes by 10 minutes. “This is to avoid overcrowding,” principal Anita Wattal said
* St Columba’s has asked students and parents to not suspend swimming classes after the Health department clarified that swine flu does not spread through swimming pools
* Guidelines on DOs and DON’Ts circulated among students in most schools: wash hands often; stay home when unwell; avoid touching eyes,nose,mouth with hands; use handkerchief and cover mouth while coughing or sneezing; keep distance from people coughing and sneezing

Guidelines issued to schools by joint monitoring group from Health and Family Welfare ministry:
* Since the magnitude of the spread of swine flu is mild,closure of schools not recommended
* No need for contact-tracing,providing chemoprophylaxis etc in schools. Also,no quarantine required of contact cases in classrooms,buses etc
* Student or staff member showing flu-like symptoms such as fever,cough,running nose and difficulty in breathing be allowed to stay home for 7 to 10 days
* Schools should discourage excursion trips to affected countries
* In case students have gone to affected countries and show flu-like symptoms on return,they should be advised to abstain from attending school. They should also be allowed to stay home 7 to 10 days
9rapid response teams to track infected cases20quick response teams to trace contacts in Delhi
(According to Health Minister Kiran Walia)