TimesLeader.com

Flu shuts Pittston schools

Cleaning crew to work on the buildings. Classes will resume Tuesday in the school district.

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

YATESVILLE – Pittston Area School District canceled all classes today as a health precaution after 15 students were confirmed to have the H1N1 virus, Superintendent George Cosgrove said.

“Our numbers are increasing every day. We are calling it off. At this point, we plan on making it (the time) up at the end of the year,” Cosgrove said.

This day off will allow school maintenance staff to thoroughly clean and disinfect all the district’s buildings.

Confirmations of the flu virus, also known as swine flu, came from family doctors, Cosgrove said.

Due to laws on health-care confidentiality, the state Health Department does not acknowledge whether there are any confirmed cases of swine flu at area schools, department spokeswoman Holli Senior said.

She said it’s hard to track exactly how many people are afflicted with the flu annually because some do not go to the doctor. It is early in the flu season and the number of swine flu cases is overwhelming, she said.

“Over 90 percent of everything we are seeing is H1N1,” Senior said.

Tony Guariglia is facing the flu fight from the prospective of a Pittston Area School Board member and father of four.

“In my role as a school board member and parent, if your kid is sick, please don’t send them to school,” Guariglia said.

One of Guariglia’s children was confirmed with the H1N1 virus Thursday, 30 minutes after getting a test at a Scranton hospital.

Nearly 20 percent, or 663, Pittston Area students were absent Wednesday, growing from an earlier number of about 400 on Monday and Tuesday. The number of students out Thursday jumped to 863, or 25 percent, with the highest level of absences from the high school. The district has 3,373 students.

Since the beginning of the week, an increasing number of students have stayed home because they are suffering from flu-like symptoms or because their parents are worried about them becoming sick.

The virus has prompted the district to cancel all extra-curricular activities Thursday and today. The football game, originally scheduled for tonight, will be played Monday against Hazleton Area at Hazleton’s field.

Students will return to school on Tuesday because the school already had a planned day off Monday to mark the Columbus Day federal holiday.

Guariglia said the district is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the state Department of Health.

The district’s day and night maintenance staffs will descend on the schools today to clean all surface areas of the buildings, from door knobs to desks to keyboards.

“I am pleased they are closing the school. They have been cleaning all along. They will be extra more vigilant using Lysol to sanitize all surfaces, laptops, computers, mouse pads in every building,” Guariglia said.

The CDC, state Health Department, school districts and area colleges are telling people sick with the flu to stay away from schools until their fever is gone for 24 hours without medicine.

Pittston Area has experienced the most problems so far, but other districts are not immune from the illness’s effects.

Although the Wilkes-Barre Area School District has not had a confirmed case of swine flu, in recent days it has sent home about eight children suffering from high fevers, Superintendent Jeff Namey said.

Dallas, Hanover Area and Greater Nanticoke Area officials said they have not experienced any problems with excessive absences or children suffering from the swine flu.

Area colleges are also on alert, asking their students who become sick to leave their campuses and go home for isolation until they recover.

Luzerne County Community College has not received any reports of high absenteeism from faculty, said LCCC President Tom Leary.

The college does have a contingency plan in place if students are out of class to help them complete their courses, he said.

“The situation nationally is they think there will be increased incidents of the flu, so I think everyone will be affected. We are hoping it will be a mild situation and not serious,” Leary said.

King’s College has had no reports of anyone getting sick with confirmed swine flu, spokesman John McAndrews said.

At Misericordia University, five students have became sick with swine flu. One student has recovered and returned to class after receiving confirmation from his or her family doctor that the student was well, university spokesman Paul Krzywicki said.

The other four students confirmed to be sick with H1N1 flu are recovering in their homes off campus.

Wilkes University had one student confirmed with a case of swine flu after getting tested last week, but the student has now recovered and was cleared to return to classes Wednesday, Wilkes spokeswoman Vickie Mayk said.

She pointed out Wilkes has more than 70 hand sanitizer dispensers installed throughout the campus in places such as entrances to computer labs, residence halls and other major buildings.

Swine flu statewide and regionwide

Region - Confirmed cases - Probable cases - Deaths

Pennsylvania - 5,258 - 136 - 14

Monroe County - 126 - 1 - 0

Luzerne County - 51 - 2 - 0

Lackawanna County - 28 - 0 - 0

Carbon County - 15 - 1 - 0

Wyoming County - 2 - 0 - 0

as of 3 p.m. Thursday.

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Health