A Message for Concerned Parents

By Lauren Smith, MD: Pediatrician and Medical Director for the MA Department of Public Health.

As parents, we want to do everything we can to protect our kids, especially when we are dealing with something new. As a parent of 3 school-aged kids, I understand your concern. But we don’t think that parents need to keep their kids home from school- even if that school has a confirmed a case of H1N1 Flu.

There are a couple of reasons for this:

1) Whether or not there is a confirmed case in your community or in your school, it is most likely there. You should assume that you could be exposed to this new flu at school, at work or at the grocery store (in other words, anywhere you go). So, it is really important to take common sense precautions to protect yourself. That means washing your hands frequently with soap and warm water, or using an alcohol based hand-sanitizer, and staying away from people who are coughing or sneezing.

You can also help ensure that you don’t spread an illness to others by covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Use a tissue, or cough into your sleeve if you don’t have one.

Take this opportunity to reinforce both of these messages with your kids. Teach them how to keep themselves from getting sick, and how not to spread disease to others when they do get sick- whether it’s a cold, the flu or some other illness.

2) Another reason we don’t feel it’s necessary to close schools, even with a confirmed case of H1N1, is that it doesn’t seem to be any more severe than a regular seasonal flu. We don’t close schools down for seasonal flu, so we it wouldn’t make sense to close them now.

Having said that, we have been, and will continue to, closely monitor the situation in coordination with schools. If the number of absences starts to grow, we will work with individual school districts to reassess the situation.

And one last important note, some children have significant underlying medical conditions that put them at increased risk for any flu – seasonal or swine. It makes sense for parents in this situation to talk to their child’s doctor about what is best for their child, just as they do when regular flu season starts. I want to reinforce that we think it is safe for kids to go to school just like they would during flu season, but ultimately, it’s a parent’s decision. If you have questions, you should consult your child’s doctor so you can have the information you need to do what you feel is best for your child.

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This post originally appeared on the MA DPH blog, Commonwealth Conversations, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the MA DPH.