Story posted Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Dist. 71 Has Flu Shot Concerns
By TOM ROBB Journal & Topics Reporter
As President Obama declared the H1N1 flu pandemic a national emergency, Niles Elementary School Dist. 71 board members approved an agreement last week with the Cook County Dept. of Public Health (CCDPH) to distribute H1N1 swine vaccine in the district.
This week, 17 Culver Elementary School students out of 543 were out sick with flu-like symptoms, said Supt. Amy Kruppe.
No date has been set for the vaccinations but Kruppe said she expects they would take place sometime in December.
Kruppe said the school board voted to approve the agreement but had some concerns about the county's non-negotiable terms. One of the biggest concerns is that the CCDPH is mandating the shots be given at the school during school hours.
Kruppe said she is concerned many parents would want to be with their children when the shots were given and that could present some parents the choice of taking time off work.
Two shots are needed when the vaccine is administered by injection to children aged nine and under. The CCDPH will administer the first shot for free but the second shot will need to be administered by a private health professional within three weeks of the first.
CCDPH made a list saying in what order communities would be given shots. Niles was somewhat far down on the list.
The pandemic is concerning to Kruppe. She said many households have multiple students attending Culver meaning infections could travel quickly through those households.
District officials have made some contingency plans to deal with a larger outbreak of H1N1 at Culver. Cleaning regimens have been stepped up, bottles of hand sanitizer are in every classroom, the district has a large pool of substitute teachers to draw on in the event teachers are stricken with the disease and teachers are in regular contact with students who are out sick with homework assignments on a daily basis.
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