Editorials
Swine flu: learning from the past
Sep 17, 2009 12:27 PM
Unlike last spring, when the swine flu epidemic in our city schools seemed to take both the Department of Education and the Department of Health by surprise, this fall we are heartened to see preparation, planning and a clear protocol for how to proceed in the event of a swine flu resurgence.
Last spring, the UFT stepped into the breach and played a major role in getting a swine flu response strategy for the schools off the ground.
Teams of UFT industrial hygienists and staffers were in affected schools on a daily basis, providing support, up-to-date information on the flu and even safety equipment.
The UFT set up a daily online reporting system coming from chapter leaders in every school, who reported on absences of students and staff as well as those sent home sick. We shared that information with the DOE and the DOH on a regular basis.
In response to pressure from the UFT to provide the school communities with accurate information, the DOE and DOH began posting daily absence and influenza illness rates in schools and information about school closings on their Web sites.
This fall, both the DOE and DOH are posting daily H1N1 flu data on their Web sites, at schools.nyc.gov and www.nyc.gov/flu respectively.
This is precisely the kind of transparency that the UFT called for last spring, because parents, school staff and the community need to know the situation — and panic can spread like wildfire in the absence of accurate information.
Flu prevention guidelines are also available online at both the DOE and DOH Web sites (as well as on the UFT Web site). Schools have also sent information on the flu home in students’ backpacks.
A key element in the city’s preparedness response this time around is to offer free H1N1 vaccinations with parental consent on site to students in elementary schools and to all middle school and high school students at designated sites. There is enough flu vaccine for all students, and it is expected to be available starting in mid-October.
This is the type of proactive response that the UFT — and indeed all affected communities — have been looking for, and we are glad to see that lessons learned from the past have led to a well-planned response in the event of a flu resurgence this fall and winter.
Cooperation between the UFT, the DOE and the DOH has been instrumental in creating the strong protocol we now have. That’s what will see us through our next flu season.
