Nurses ready to tackle possible cases with education and vaccines
By Robert Nott
The New Mexican
Don't panic, parents.
Assuming the state receives enough H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine by
mid-October, and you sign those flu-shot consent forms, Santa Fe's
school nurses are prepared to keep your kids healthy.
With anxiety rising over a possible swine flu epidemic, the
nurses are already gearing up to vaccinate as many students as
possible. Which doesn't mean that some of them aren't a little
nervous.
"H1N1 is not very lethal -- it's just going through a lot of
people," explained Cheri Dotson, lead nurse of the Office of Student
Wellness for Santa Fe Public Schools, to a room of school nurses who
took part in an all-day training seminar last Wednesday.
"There were no confirmed cases of swine flu in the Santa Fe
schools last year," she said. And then, after a pause: "We may not
be so lucky this year."
Children are, unfortunately, very gifted carriers of germs and
disease, Dotson said. But she still thinks H1N1 can be addressed
with proper education and vaccinations. To that end, the schools are
sending out information and consent forms in both English and
Spanish to parents. (About half of the school district's nurses are
bilingual.)
Moreover, Dotson doesn't see H1N1 as being too serious a threat -
- now. "It's dominating the media, but we're ready for it," she
said. "It's not any more deadly than a seasonal flu at this point,
unless it mutates more, at which point it would become a serious
condition."
According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, more than 2
million people have been hit by swine flu in the United States, with
roughly 7,500 being hospitalized. About 475 people had died as of
Aug. 13, the report said. In New Mexico, there has been only one
confirmed fatality -- a Sandia County woman who died earlier this
month.
Swine flu -- which leads to such symptoms as coughing, a sore
throat, fever and nausea -- hits the young the hardest. Thus the New
Mexico Immunization Coalition, based in Albuquerque, is making
students a priority for receiving shots, according to NMIC executive
director Ana Pentler. Yet teachers aren't on that first tier of shot
subjects, she confirmed.
Dotson said she feels teachers should also be a priority. Santa
Fe High nurse Rebecca Cecil agrees. "Teachers are right there in the
thick of things and just as exposed," she said. "I think any school
personnel should be considered in that first line of defense so we
can continue to work in school if there is an outbreak."
Last year, 200 of Santa Fe High's 1,500 students received a flu
shot under a model program.
This year, the district is recommending that students again
receive a seasonal flu shot, followed by a waiting period of three
weeks before they can get a shot of H1N1 vaccine. A second dose of
H1N1 vaccine, two weeks after that, is also recommended, Dotson
said.
The free shots will probably be given at the beginning or end of
the day to avoid interfering with classroom teaching, she said,
although another possibility under consideration is holding weekend
swine flu clinics at specific schools.
Dotson said school nurses are always proactive with such
diseases. She stressed that it was another high-school nurse -- Mary
Pappas of St. Francis Preparatory School in New York City -- who
first identified swine flu in her students in the spring of 2009 and
tipped off that city's health department.
Still, questions remain as to how much vaccine New Mexico will
receive, Pentler confirmed. Only 45 million doses will be available
nationwide as of October, as opposed to the original goal of 120
million doses.
But prevention also depends on parents and/or students granting
permission for their children to be inoculated, Dotson stressed.
"Contact your school nurse and make sure she has your consent
form and it is filled out completely," she advised. "If it is not
signed, or not filled out completely, they are not getting it. It's
that simple." (She expects to post consent forms on the Santa Fe
Public Schools Web site by mid-September.)
In the case of elementary school students, Dotson suggests
parents check little Johnny's backpack just in case he has the form
crumpled up in there.
Some schools corralled a good number of consent forms during
registration earlier this month. Cecil said Santa Fe High has
already received about
90 percent of the forms back -- with about 28 percent declining
the shot.
Other preventive measures include encouraging hand washing,
reminding students to sneeze or cough into their shirt sleeves, and
if need be, distancing school desks in the classroom. Should a
student suffer from any flulike symptoms, he or she should stay
home.
Dotson said it is unlikely that Santa Fe would close schools due
to an outbreak. Earlier this month, the federal government
recommended that schools do so only under limited and very severe
circumstances.
"We probably wouldn't close a school because students can spread
it even more outside school, hanging out together," Dotson said.
"And that's the recommendation of the CDC, the Department of
Homeland Security, and the state's department of education."
She also wants Mom and Dad to play their part. "I've had parents
call me up to say, 'You need to teach my child to wash his hands and
blow his nose,' " Dotson said. "Yes, we can encourage those
messages, but they need to also come from home. We need parents to
work with us to teach children how not to pass germs."
Outside of the schools, the New Mexico Department of Health is
planning mass vaccination clinics at schools, child care centers,
community centers and health clinics, according to Deborah
Busemeyer, communications director for the department. The state
will provide vaccine in those clinics for the uninsured.
Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.
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