- With Mayo Clinic internist
James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
James Steckelberg, M.D.
Dr. James Steckelberg is chairman of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Mayo Clinic, a consultant and a professor of medicine at Mayo Medical School.
A native of Fremont, Neb., Dr. Steckelberg was a Rhodes Scholar and graduated from the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine as a resident in internal medicine and a fellow in infectious diseases, and is board certified in both. He is the former director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Steckelberg belongs to numerous professional organizations. He is a founding member of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society of America and a fellow with the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He has served on many Mayo Clinic committees and is a member of the Department of Medicine Leadership Committee and the executive committee of the Division of Infectious Diseases. He also served on the editorial boards of "Mayo Clinic Proceedings" and "Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy" and has been an editorial reviewer for more than a dozen publications.
Dr. Steckelberg's research interests include experimental models of infection, epidemiology of infection, and antimicrobial resistance and therapy of bacterial infections.
Definition (3)
- What's the difference between H1N1 flu and influenza A?
- H1N1 flu (swine flu): How serious is the global threat?
- H1N1 flu (swine flu) pandemic: What does it mean?
Symptoms (2)
- H1N1 flu (swine flu) symptoms: Is fever always present?
- H1N1 flu (swine flu) symptoms: Self-care for the flu
Complications (1)
- H1N1 flu (swine flu) and pregnancy: Are special precautions necessary?
Prevention (5)
- Flu school closing: Any benefit?
- H1N1 flu (swine flu): Can you catch it twice?
- Flu mask: Should I wear one?
- see all in Prevention
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Question
Flu school closing: Any benefit?
What's the benefit of school closing when there's a flu outbreak?
Answer
from James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
School closing may be necessary for a few days at the peak of flu season if there aren't enough students and staff members on hand to keep things running normally. Usually, though, school closing is meant to reduce the spread of an infectious disease circulating in the community. Decisions about school closing are made locally by school districts, in consultation with public health departments.
The goal of school closing is to limit contact between infected and uninfected children. Because they have less natural immunity than adults do, children are more likely to get infected — particularly at school, where germs spread easily. Each child who brings the infection to school transmits it to a few others, who carry it from the classroom to a pool of contacts at home. Ideally, closing school should interrupt flu transmission before the infection makes its way into too many homes.
Based on experience with H1N1 swine flu in spring 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends these policies for schools:
- Students and staff with flu-like illness should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines. They should stay home even if they're using antiviral drugs.
- Students and staff who appear to have flu-like illness should stay in a room separate from others until they can be sent home. The CDC recommends that they wear a surgical mask, if possible, and that those who care for ill students and staff wear protective gear such as a mask.
- Everyone at school should wash hands frequently, using soap and water when possible. Cover noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing (or a shirt sleeve or elbow if no tissue is available).
- School staff should use standard cleaning products to routinely clean areas that students and staff touch often. Special cleaning with bleach and other non-detergent-based cleaners is not necessary.
If the winter resurgence of swine flu H1N1 causes more severe illness than was typical in the spring and summer of 2009, the CDC may recommend additional measures, including school dismissals, to help protect students and staff.
- Schools should check students and staff for fever and other symptoms of flu every morning. Anyone who's ill should be separated from the group and sent home as soon as possible.
- If your child is at high risk of flu complications and the flu is circulating in your community, talk to your doctor about whether your child should stay home from school.
- Students who have an ill household member should stay home for five days from the day the first household member got sick. This is the time period in which they're most likely to get sick themselves.
- People with flu-like illness should extend the length of time they stay home to at least seven days — possibly longer if symptoms persist.
Local health and education officials may implement these additional measures anytime area conditions seem to warrant it.
Next questionH1N1 flu (swine flu): Can you catch it twice?
- World Health Organization Writing Group. Nonpharmaceutical Interventions for Pandemic Influenza, National and Community Measures. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2006;12:88. Accessed May 4, 2009. www.cdc.gov/eid.
- Community strategy for pandemic influenza mitigation. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/community/commitigation.html. Accessed May 3, 2009.
- Update on school (K - 12) and childcare facilities: Interim CDC guidance in response to human infections with the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/K12_dismissal.htm. Accessed May 5, 2009.
- CDC guidance for state and local public health officials and school administrators for school (K-12): Responses to influenza during the 2009-2010 school year. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/schools/schoolguidance.htm. Accessed Aug. 11, 2009.
