Dear Parents & Guardians,

The State of New York has entered a heightened surveillance stage resulting from the presence of a swine flu virus that is making people sick in several states, including New York.  Although, to date, only relatively mild illness has occurred in the United States, we realize that many people are worried and we hope this letter will help address your concerns.  The School at Springbrook in working with our local health department and will be taking certain measures to ensure that all our students and staff members work and attend school in a safe, healthy environment. In the Residential School Program we will be implementing the following control measures:

• Having readily available hand sanitizers
• Reminding staff members and students to practice good hand washing skills
• Providing in-service training sessions for staff members on infection control measures for respiratory outbreaks
• Requesting that parents of day students be vigilant and keep the students home when they are ill 

Influenza viruses are spread from person to person primarily through the coughing and sneezing of infected persons. Influenza illness can include any or all of these symptoms; fever (over 100 degrees F.), muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, cough, sore throat and a runny nose. Children who are getting ill may behave differently than usual, such as eating less or being irritable Infected people may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before the onset of symptoms  and up to 7 or more days after becoming sick. This means that the virus may be passed on by an individual before they actually know they are getting sick. People with a swine influenza virus infection should be considered potentially contagious as long as they are symptomatic and for up to 7 days following illness onset. Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods.

Due to the potential for transmission I’d like to share some information and reminders with you. To try and prevent or minimize the spread of illness in our Residential School Program I encourage you to keep your child home from school when the following symptoms are present:

• Fever of 100 or more degrees
• Fever within the last 24 hours
• When using fever reducing medication to the keep fever down  
• Frequent, hard coughing
• Nausea / vomiting
• Muscle aches or fatigue
• Loose, watery bowel movements
• Drainage from ears or eyes
• Headache
• Sore throat

For your review I have attached our traditional protocol for when to keep students home from school. If the student exhibits any of the symptoms noted above during the course of a school day, the Residential School Nursing Department will contact you regarding your child’s condition. In the case of day students, they will also request that you make arrangements for your child to be transported home.

Your child may return to school when:

• Temperature has been normal without the use of fever reducing agents for at least 24 hours
• No vomiting or loose stools have been noted for at least 24 hours
• He/she feels well enough to be in school for a full day.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact our nursing department at (607) 286-7171, ext 342. If we are unavailable please leave your name and number and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Remember, healthy students make better learners! Thank you for your support and anticipated cooperation.

H1N1 Fact Sheet

H1N1 Parent Permission Letter

H1N1 Vaccine Permission Form