Decatur Schools to Be Scrubbed in Ebola, Flu Response

With the flu and enterovirus spreading through Georgia schools -- and Americans continuing to fixate on Ebola headlines -- the City Schools of Decatur says it will take preventative steps for disease control.

Superintendent Phyllis Edwards said in a letter to parents last week that the school system will have every building and school bus disinfected before Thanksgiving break.

Officials are also considering a wait period for new students to enter schools if they have emigrated from West African countries where the Ebola epidemic is ongoing.

Edwards’ letter to parents says:

October 22, 2014
Dear CSD Families:
The City Schools of Decatur recognizes the importance of protecting the health and welfare of the students and staff from the spread of illness. The staff and I have reviewed guidance and have spoken to experts at the Department of Health and the CDC before crafting this City Schools of Decatur message regarding the spread of the Ebola virus and Enterovirus (EV_D68).

The news is filled with daily updates regarding these serious and dangerous viruses. As I am sure you can understand, this is a very difficult and touchy issue. We want to be as protective and cautious as possible but do not want to be alarmists or cause fear among our students.

Internally, we have discussed our response with our nurses and been in contact with the Department of Health regarding the most current recommendations for infection prevention. In a preventative effort, I have requested that every school and bus be scrubbed and disinfected with the cleaning products recommended by DPH and CDC during the nights and weekends prior to Thanksgiving break.

This is the time of year when we have a normal onslaught of influenza, which certainly complicates the issues for our school nurses. Please understand that if your child presents with a fever while at school, we will isolate the student and call you immediately to pick up the student. If your child has a fever or other illness symptoms, it is important that the child stays home, rests and drinks plenty of liquids.

Consult with a health care provider regarding symptoms if needed. Please do not give your child fever-reducing medication and send him or her to school. To decrease the spread of illness, a child should be fever free for 24 hours from the time of last fever before returning to school.

We also ask that if you feel that you are coming down with something or have a fever, please do not come to school. If you have been directly handling or dealing with anyone exhibiting symptoms of these viruses, please refrain from visiting schools.

We have internal procedures that we are sharing with the nurses. We are sharing the various informational sites with you, including ones that we have received from the Department of Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention or the Governor’s office.

Informational sites about Ebola, EV_D68, other illnesses and tips on staying healthy:

http://dph.georgia.gov/infection-prevention-tips-staying-healthy

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/symptoms/index.html

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/resources/pdfs/ebola-factsheet.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/features/evd68/

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm

In other efforts to control the spread of illness, we are considering putting a wait time and a release from a State Health Agency before any new children from the Ebola-affected West African countries can be enrolled. This wait time and clearance will also include any current students returning to school who have recently visited the affected areas. Proper medical documentation will need to be provided and approved.

We will continue to keep you updated as new information is shared with us.
Sincerely,
Dr. Phyllis Edwards