Stay germ-free this school year

OSBURN — The new school year is back in full swing and with that comes new waves of cold and flu strains for students to pass among themselves.

Kellogg School District nurse Nicole Lewis has some very basic tips for how you can keep your children and other children as germ-free as possible.

“The most important method to assist in staying healthy through cold and flu season is washing hands with soap and water,” Lewis said. “If soap and water are not available, then use hand sanitizer. Encourage children to cover their sneezes and cough with either their elbow or a tissue, as well as keeping their fingers out of their eyes, nose and mouth.”

Germs spread in a myriad of ways, especially inside a school building.

For elementary aged students, these germs can spread through normal behaviors like sharing equipment, moving through different classrooms and basic interactions with one another.

One of the most important pieces of information a parent can have is knowing when they need to keep their child home once they’re sick.

If a child has an active fever, then they are still sick, but not all people tend to run at the same temperature making it difficult to gauge.

Fortunately, there is a universal threshold where parents should keep their child home.

“If a child has a fever of over 100.5, please keep your child home,” Lewis said. “If your child has been actively vomiting or diarrhea, please keep him or her home.”

With school districts taking an active stance at combating the spread of germs, the schools have set up various amenities that allow the students to remain as germ free as possible.

Hand sanitizer is available in every school as are sinks, soap and water are available in most elementary classrooms.

“Teachers and staff are constantly reminding students to wash their hands, using hand sanitizer, covering their cough and sneeze, and keeping their fingers out of their eyes, nose and mouth,” Lewis said.

At the beginning of the year, students are asked to bring a box of tissue as part of their supply list, so that it is readily available for students to use.

Flu season hit the Silver Valley schools especially hard last year and even forced several building closures to limit the spread further.

At its height in mid-Januray 2018, nearly 30 percent of the student body and faculty in the Kellogg School District were absent due to sickness.

That precipitated a district-wide closure for the remainder of that week.

The decision to close school for illness-related reasons ultimately is decided by the district offices, but each one is advised by the Panahandle Health District. PHD tracks the number of illness-related absences at each school in the region and gives a recommendation based on those numbers.

Keeping kids germ-free is no easy task, but local schools are working to take every step they can to maintain a healthy learning environment.