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School Information
Helpful Hints About The Flu SeasonSome helpful hints about the flu season: What can families, students, and school personnel do to keep from getting sick and spreading the flu? Families, students and school staff can keep from getting sick with the flu in three ways: 1. Practicing good hand hygiene. Students and staff members should wash their hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective (should be used by students and children only when supervised). 2. Practicing respiratory etiquette. The main way that the flu spreads is from person to person in the droplets produced by coughs and sneezes, so it’s important to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow or shoulder, not into your hands. 3. Staying home if you’re sick. Keeping sick students at home means that they keep their viruses to themselves rather than sharing them with others. Students, staff, and their families must take personal responsibility for helping to slow the spread of the virus by practicing these steps to keep from getting sick with the flu and protecting others from getting the flu. Washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice) is the best way to keep your hands from spreading the virus. Alcohol-based hand cleaners containing at least 60% alcohol are also effective. If soap and water are not available and alcohol-based products are not allowed in the school, other hand sanitizers that do not contain alcohol may be useful for cleaning hands. However, they may not be as effective as alcohol-based sanitizers. Fever-reducing medications are medicines that contain acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Motrin). These medicines can be given to people who are sick with the flu to help bring their fever down and relieve their pain. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) should not be given to children or teenagers who have the flu; this can cause a rare by serious illness called Reye’s syndrome. A sick student can return to school after 24 hours have passed with a normal temperature (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius) without the use of fever-reducing medications. As the sick person begins to feel better you may decide to stop giving fever-reducing medicines. Continue to monitor their temperature until the temperature has been normal for 24 hours. For more information: Visit: www.flu.gov or you can contact CDC 24 hours/Every Day at 1 (800) 232-4636.
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Arroyo Vista Elementary School 335 El Centro Street South Pasadena CA, 91030 Tel: (626) 441-5840 • Fax: (626) 441-5845 |
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