Swine flu test results from three of at least 10 sick Rucker Elementary School students came back negative late Thursday night, and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department approved the school’s reopening Monday.
The three tested students included one 10-year-old girl in the fourth grade who fell severely ill Monday and left the rural school north of Gilroy, said Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Debbie Flores. A couple others followed immediately, and those three exhibited severe flu symptoms – including vomiting and diarrhea – but they tested negative for swine flu and are now recovering. After reviewing the results and consulting with the district, county doctors decided this morning to investigate the students’ illnesses, but they agreed to reopen the school because there was no evidence of swine flu. Shutting down a school requires the presence of at least one probable case.
“It’s not swine flu, but public health is taking it seriously and going out (to Rucker) to do an investigation and see what caused the infection, and whether there was any possibility of further exposure,” health department spokesperson Tamara Shear said.
Federal health officials believe the flu, which regularly affects pigs but rarely humans, originated in Mexico, and they are concerned because it is a new virus for which people have little or no immunity and no vaccine. It has been confirmed in about 250 cases worldwide and is suspected to have infected about 3,000 across the globe, including more than 100 people in the United States. Responding to the virus’ rapid spread, the World Health Organization’s director-general, Margaret Chan, raised the organization’s alert level Wednesday, signifying that a flu pandemic was imminent.
Still, a probable case has not yet surfaced in Gilroy or its schools and Flores let out a cautious “phew.”
“It’s a major relief the first few were negative because one of the children had all the symptoms, and the other two were very ill,” Flores said Friday, adding that fall and winter flu outbreaks commonly remove 10 children from the school of about 640 students. “This looks like a different influenza, and we were being very cautious Thursday when we decided to close the school.”
The district has forwarded the names of the seven additional students showing flu symptoms to the county, Flores said. Some of the students have been hospitalized and have been lying in bed at home. The kids’ guardians have taken all seven to see doctors, but it is up to them and county officials to work out medical solutions, Flores said.
“We’re asking the children to see doctors, and so far they have complied, but at that point it’s a medical call,” Flores said. “Hopefully now, with three days off, we’ll have fewer children sick on Monday, and we’ll be reducing the risk at school” on Monday with common sense hygiene practices.
The county analyzes swabs and cultures of “possible cases” taken at local health clinics. If the results come back positive for type A flu virus, the case is labeled “probable” and forwarded the samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga., for confirmation.
In addition to the classroom disruption, the school district decided Thursday – after waiting 36 hours too long for the test results because of an unrelated swab error – to cancel this year’s Run for Fitness, an annual exercise event of about 2,000 students to raise fitness awareness. The event at Luigi Aprea Elementary School will be rescheduled soon. No other events have been postponed, Flores said.
The county health department’s precautionary closure of Rucker was the first such school closure in Gilroy and the sixth in the county. The decision came as officials were waiting for test results from Saint Louise Regional Hospital. The initial swab analysis taken there from the 10-year-old girl in the fourth grade was inconclusive and had to be retaken, and county officials thus labeled the suspected sample a “high priority” Thursday, said Molly Carbajal, a health department spokesperson. Saint Louise representatives refused to comment.
The sick Rucker students were mostly fourth graders but included at least one first grader, according to Rucker Principal Barbara Keesaw, who said “a couple” of students’ families visited Mexico during spring break two weeks ago. The closure did not affect state standardized testing, which will resume when the school reopens Monday, Flores said.
When Rucker closed at its normal time Thursday – an hour or so after the county decided to close the school – Melissa Valdez, who takes care of a first grader after school, said she thought the health department should shut down the whole school district, which serves about 10,000 students. She also questioned the prudence of closing just one school, whose students are bused in from different areas in and around Gilroy – unlike other neighborhood schools.
“These are not just the country kids. These are kids from all around Gilroy,” Valdez said as she held a bright pink letter that Flores wrote to guardians about the closing.
Lisa Muzzio appreciated the prompt notifications and advice from the school district – which reportedly bought up all the hand sanitizer at Costco Thursday afternoon – but she said she would stay calm, continue to practice common sense hygiene and encourage her sons in fifth and second grade to do the same.
“I’m not going to panic. There’s no sense to that,” Muzzio said.
Some residents have still voiced concern about the 100 migrant families moving into the Arturo Ochoa Migrant Farmworker Center off Arizona Circle in southeast Gilroy today. Some are coming from Texas and most typically work fields near the Mexican border. Of the 260 or so people expected to arrive, about 100 will be children who will enter district schools until summer vacation, according to a camp employee.
Neither the school district nor the county will take any special precautions to anticipate the influx of new students, but the county has been in contact with the Gilroy camp, which is one of 25 state-subsidized living quarters and the only such camp in Santa Clara County. Gardner Family Health Network also has a mobile clinic that regularly visits the seasonal quarters. CEO Reymundo Espinoza said he was aware of the camp’s impending opening, but like many other health professionals, he said there was nothing to do until someone sought help. There will be no screening.
Councilman Perry Woodward was down in Mexico with his wife and two young children in Cabo San Lucas this week, which sits at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. The professional pilot with a private plane housed in San Martin took a commercial flight to Mexico Monday before the CDC issued travel precautions, and he said Wednesday people “were still partying,” but in thinner crowds than usual.
Down in Mexico City, Gilroy High School teacher Gretchen Yoder-Schrock is on a Fulbright exchange, but her life and those of her two kids “have been radically altered” after schools across the country closed April 24. She washes her hands about 30 times a day, but there’s not a lot to do – concerts and other public events in Mexico City are canceled, restaurants only sell food to go, and movie theaters, gyms, and pools are closed.
“Its been nearly a week that we’ve been cooped up but we are staying entertained,” Yoder-Schrock wrote in an e-mail. “Thank goodness for the Internet!”
Staff writer Sara Suddes contributed to this story.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
-“Give us time to get the results. We don’t want people panicking.” – GUSD Superintendent Debbie Flores
-“In hindsight, I should’ve taken my plane.” – Councilman Perry Woodward, a pilot speaking from Mexico about his impending commercial plane trip home
-“Right now we’re treating this as a suspected case.” – County health department spokesperson Molly Carbajal talking about one of seven Rucker students who have flu-like symptoms
-“I’m not going to panic. There’s no sense to that.” – Lisa Muzzio, mother of two Rucker students
Masks: What to look for
-According to a Consumer Reports blog (blogs.consumerreports.org/health), wearing a mask “makes sense” for people who are likely to be exposed to the virus, such as someone caring for a sick person.
-Consumer Reports advises looking for a mask labeled N-95 or higher, which means it has been cleared by the FDA. If you choose to wear a mask, it should fit tightly over your nose and mouth with no gaps. For the most effectiveness, masks need to be worn as long as you’re in a high risk situation and replaced after each use.
-Masks are no replacement for other preventative measures, such as frequent and vigorous hand washing.
Prevention tips
-Wash hands frequently
-Cover your mouth when you cough
-Avoid close contact with sick people
-Stay home from school or work if you are sick
-Eat healthy
-Get adequate sleep each night
-Drink plenty of fluids
-Exercise
BY THE NUMBERS
-6 ‘probable’ swine flu cases in the county, none confirmed
-99 samples tested in county, including Gilroy’s “suspected” case
-19 confirmed cases in California
-1 death in Texas
-13 countries affected
-120 confirmed cases in 17 states
-168 deaths linked to swine flu in Mexico
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, Santa Clara County Public Health Department
