Suspected swine flu cases close schools

By Admin on April 30, 2009

Two Oswego schools and an Aurora school were added to the growing roll of schools closed because of probable swine flu cases this afternoon.

Two Oswego schools, Fox Chase Elementary School and Thompson Junior High School, as well as Bednarcik Junior High School in Aurora will be closed Friday; School District 308 will inform parents and post information on its Web site on Sunday about whether they will reopen next week, district officials said.

Tom Schlueter, a spokesman for the Kane County health department, said the schools were being closed because “it’s important to break the chain and stop the spread of the disease by getting it at the very beginning.”

Earlier this afternoon, officials announced the closing of two Joliet schools and a school in Streamwood, and a middle school was closed in west suburban St. Charles this afternoon after the Kane County Health Department determined that a student there has a probable case of swine flu. Officials also had announced a Rogers Park school closed Wednesday will remain shut until further notice.

Haines Middle School was shut down at 1 p.m. and will not resume operations until CUSD 303 is notified of test results by the Centers for Disease Control, the district announced today on its Web site.

The Cook County Department of Public Health recommended closing Ridge Circle Elementary School in
Streamwood because of the case of a Streamwood boy with probable swine flu. Two schools, Farragut and Sator
Sanchez elementary schools also were being closed in Joliet, officials
there said.

Ridge Circle Elementary School in Streamwood will remain closed until
May 11, the full 7 days recommended by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, school officials said. The closing came after an
11-year-old boy from the northwest suburb was diagnosed with a probable
case of swine flu.

At an afternoon news conference, St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 Supt. Dr. Donald Schlomann said the sickened student was a girl, but he declined to reveal her age or grade.

He said the girl came to school on Monday and seemed fine, but she developed a high fever that day and was sent home. The next day she was taken to a family doctor who took a sample of the virus from the girl and sent it to the state’s Department of Public Health.

After determining the virus was probably swine flu, it was sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing.

The girl is feeling well, Schlomann said.

“She would like to come back to school, but unfortunately school is closed,” he said.

He said no other students have shown symptoms and the 1,100-student school did not have an abnormally high absentee rate.

The school’s extracurricular activities have been canceled until further notice and workers will do a wipe-down at the school with anti-bacterial wipes tonight, according to schlomann.

He said the earliest the school could open is Monday, if no other cases are found.

Haines joins a small but growing list of schools closed because of probable swine flu cases.

Kilmer Elementary School in Rogers Park was closed when a 12-year-old girl who attends the school came down with what tests showed was probably swine flu. Kilmer will remain closed until further notice, School Public School spokeswoman Monique Bond said today.

Three schools also are closed in Kane County, two of them in Batavia, including Batavia High School.

Rotolo Middle School in Batavia is being closed as a preventative measure. All activities and practices are canceled, as well. “Our first priority is the safety of our students, faculty and community,” said Superintendent Jack Barshinger in a statement issued Wednesday.

Marmion Academy, a Catholic-Benedictine High School in Aurora, also has a probable case and is closed until Monday, said a spokesperson.

As of this afternoon, there were at least 20 probable cases of swine flu reported in Illinois.

– Cliff Ward, Jeff Long and Carlos Sadovi
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