Guthrie County’s chief health expert says that there’s a larger than normal amount of Flu strain A cases in the county this year. Public Health Administrator Jotham Arber says that under no circumstances should children be sent to school if they are showing any symptoms of this dangerous flu illnes, “Fever, coughing, runny nose, sneezing. What we’ve seen a lot here in Guthrie County is this flu starting as a sneezing bout, it will seem like a seasonal allergy attack. The child may start complaining that they aren’t able to breathe, that their nose is running, that they have a headache. They may not display fever right away, but if your child is displaying those symptoms, or if you’re displaying those symptoms, we do recommend getting into a doctor as soon as possible.”
Public Health Dept: Dangerous Flu Strain Could Cause Danger In Guthrie County Schools
The Iowa Department of Public Health tracks school districts who have had ten percent or greater of their student and faculty body out sick with the flu, an occurrence which has not happened this flu season in Guthrie County. There is no magic number as to when schools will cancel due to sickness, that decision is solely made at the discretion of each school district, but as a precedent, public health documents and past media reports show that cancellation becomes viable when between twenty and twenty-five percent or more of the student and faculty body is out with the flu; a number that none of the four districts in Guthrie County have been anywhere close to reaching this year.