PG Letter to Parents and Guardians Due to Flu Outbreak

 

• Enhanced Cleaning – Increased disinfection of high-touch areas in schools and buses.
• Handwashing & Hygiene – Ensuring ample soap, paper towels, and hand sanitizer, along with reminders for proper handwashing.
• Temporary Masking – If flu cases reach critical levels in a school, we may require temporary masking to safeguard students and staff.
• On-Site Flu Vaccination – We are partnering with the Prince George’s County Health Department to provide flu vaccines in affected schools.
• Limiting Exposure – Keeping students in consistent groups where possible to limit interactions and contain outbreaks.
• Extracurricular Adjustments – Modifying or postponing high-contact activities and large gatherings as needed.
• Ongoing Monitoring – We continue to track illness trends, work closely with local health officials, and update families regularly.

Letter from the Superintendent: Help Us Prevent Flu Spread in Schools

Got a sick kid at home? Most likely you won’t find commonly used pain and fever reducers at your local drug stores including children’s @tylenol . We checked a @CVSHealth store in Rockville #Maryland and they are out. Same thing over on @amazon . @fox5dc

 Ayesha Khan on Twitter: "Got a sick kid at home? Most likely you won’t find commonly used pain and fever reducers at your local drug stores including children’s @tylenol. We checked a @CVSHealth store in Rockville #Maryland and they are out. Same thing over on @amazon. @fox5dc https://t.co/v4AMqhHgch" / Twitter

‘Tripledemic’ Causing Higher Volume of Patients in Emergency Rooms

Emergency departments are seeing an increase in patients with flu and RSV, according to Holy Cross Health Acute Care President Dr. Louis Damiano. 

And let’s not forget COVID. So we termed this the tripledemic, because of the three different upper respiratory tract environments,” Damiano said during a media briefing Wednesday. 

He said that in July and August, most upper respiratory tract infections were due to COVID-19, but that has changed. Now, about 50% of those visits at Silver Spring and Germantown locations are RSV or flu.

“The impact on the emergency room is that the volumes are higher, and as the volumes are higher and we try and see and triage the patients, it also results in longer wait times.”

‘Tripledemic’ Causing Higher Volume of Patients in Emergency Rooms - Montgomery Community Media (mymcmedia.org)

The US has never recorded this many positive flu tests in one week

This flu season’s ferocious start has given way to record-shattering levels of transmission — and massive strains on the American health system.

In the week ending November 26, more than 34,000 positive flu tests were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from labs around the US, as shown in the orange line on the chart below. That’s more positive flu tests than have been reported in any single week during any flu season on record, going back as far as 1997.

The trajectory dwarfs the past six flu seasons, including the relatively bad 2019-2020 one that immediately preceded the start of the Covid-19 pandemic (shown in the black line)...

2022 is the worst flu season in two decades. See the rise in charts. - Vox

CDC's Outpatient Respiratory Illness Map shows hospital visits in D.C., Maryland and Virginia are "very high."

 Local hospitals overwhelmed as flu season worsens (fox5dc.com)

1,000 Stafford High School Students Out Sick With Flu-Like Symptoms

About 1,000 students at a high school in Stafford County, Virginia, are out sick Friday due to a widespread illness within the school, officials say.

Nearly half of the student body at Stafford High School have flu-like and gastrointestinal symptoms, a spokesperson for Stafford County Public Schools told News4.

As a result, Stafford High School has canceled all activities and athletic events through Sunday.

School officials are working with the health department to try to identify the root cause of the illness, according to the spokesperson.

There are about 2,100 students who attend Stafford High School, officials say.

1,000 Stafford High School Students Out Sick With Flu-Like Symptoms – NBC4 Washington (nbcwashington.com)

Filtration, checking ventilation levels, masks, outdoor eating, and mobile vaccine clinics could help for flu, covid, and RSV.

Filtration, checking ventilation levels, masks, outdoor eating, and mobile vaccine clinics could help for flu, covid, and RSV. @Kelly4LASchools @NickMelvoinBD4 @Jackie4LAkids @ScottAtLAUSD we don’t want 1400 students out sick in just ONE school here in LA too. https://t.co/fTnZWwopgt

— LA Parents for COVID-Safe Schools (@LAParents1) October 16, 2022