Flu season has returned to the North State, and with it, the burn of a fever, and the drip of a runny nose, but administrators from CUSD say the bug hasn't been a big issue this year. "We haven't seen much of an impact yet. As of this week, Wednesday we had 60 more students absent than our average daily rate of absences, and yesterday, there were only 40 more," according to CUSD Assistant Superintendent David Scott.
But Butte County Health officials, like Dr. Mark Lundberg say the flu season is far from over. "We're getting a lot of flu detected in Butte County. There's a rapid test that's done, and there's a lot of that being detected."
Although the largest reports of flu outbreaks have been in other area's, Dr. Lundberg is concerned the North State isn't far behind. "I do believe that we may have been delayed to being hit hard, compared to the east coast, but we will see increasing numbers." He says that due to it's nature, the flu virus is extremely hard to contain. "Highly contagious. It's spread by respiratory. People, when they cough, it goes in the air, or onto a surface." Which makes it important to get the vaccine, and wash your hands regularly.
Physicians also recommend that those with the flu cough into their sleeves to limit the spread of germs, or just stay home all together. Two methods endorsed by Assistant Superintendent Scott. "We ask that if the child has a fever, that the parent keep the child at home for at least 24 hours after the fever disappears."
