Schools

Page contents: Summary | School policy | What should I do if a child is unwell?

Summary

Victoria is now implementing the ‘Protect’ phase of the Influenza Pandemic Plan. Key elements of the protect phase are:

• Antiviral treatment will continue to focus on people in high-risk groups, such as pregnant women, the morbidly obese and people with chronic illness such as diabetes or respiratory disease. 
• People who are otherwise healthy and have mild flu-like symptoms should stay at home in voluntary isolation and treat symptoms as required. These people will no longer be given antiviral therapy. Currently the vast majority of people experiencing mild flu-like symptoms are making a full recovery, without any medical treatment.

• Only close contacts who are at higher risk of influenza will be given antiviral treatment.

• Controlling outbreaks in high risk institutional settings, such as special schools and aged care facilities.

School Policy

In general schools should not be closed, but children with acute flu-like illness should be excluded from school.

School policies continue to be important in the ‘Protect’ phase, however, regional or widespread closure of schools is not considered a proportionate nor appropriate intervention for H1N1 09 influenza where symptoms is ‘mild in most’.

Schools and early childhood education and care centres (ECEC) will be asked to be vigilant of illness within school and ECECs and will contact parents to collect unwell children. This particularly applies to students that may have respiratory conditions or low immunity to illness.

What should I do if a child is unwell?

• People with mild flu-like illness should stay at home
• People who are moderately unwell with flu-like symptoms should call ahead then visit their GP

• Only people who are seriously unwell should visit a hospital emergency department.

More information on the Human Swine Flu