Officials from both Grey Bruce School Boards have met with medical staff at the Grey Bruce Health Unit to map out a plan on how to deal with the H1N1 flu when it returns this fall.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hazel Lynn says the meeting with the Directors of Education for the Bluewater Board and the Bruce Grey Catholic Board was to strategize how things will be managed this fall within Grey and Bruce County schools.
Dr. Lynn says one of the major areas of focus will be an accurate surveillance of illness and the resulting absenteeism in the schools.
She says parents will be asked if their childs absence from school is due to flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat) or gastro-intestinal (vomiting, diarrhea) or other.
Dr. Lynn says this information will be very useful in the early detection of outbreaks before they reach their potential peak level.
She says outbreaks in the school often precede larger community-based outbreaks.
Dr. Lynn says while school closures would be considered to try and stop the spread of the illness, that would only take place if there were not enough teachers to provide supervision and education for the students.
She says parents also will have an important role to play as well and if their child displays any type of flu symptoms then they should be kept home from school until they are feeling better.
Dr. Lynn says that will slow the spread of the illness and allow health officials to get the vaccine out to those most at risk.
She predicts the N1N1 vaccine should be available in November.