With the recent reports of massive absenteeism in some Iowa school districts related to the flu outbreak, local school officials report a slightly elevated number of absences as they work to stave off the numbers experienced elsewhere.

Susan Grieder became the school nurse in the Belle Plaine Community Schools this year. She said the district has experienced a few more absences than normal in the past couple of weeks. But nothing like the reports out of Iowa City, where more than a third of the student body at City High missed one or more days of school this week due to the flu.

With predictions of the outbreak coming even before the start of school this fall, Grieder said she has reminded the janitorial staff to pay special attention to cleaning surfaces that see the most human contact, such as door knobs, stair rails, sinks and drinking fountains. She has been instructing students on good hand washing, coughing into their elbows rather than their hands, etc.

She has sent information home with students in the lower grades and has put hand sanitizer in most of the classrooms. The Benton County Health Department has also been instrumental in handing out packets with hand sanitizer and other materials for students.

Grieder has also attended a couple of workshops on the epidemic at Benton Community Schools and at Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton.

She also reports that other than the few extra cases of suspected flu, there was one confirmed case of chicken pox at Longfellow earlier in the school year.

Health care professionals remind everyone to cough into their elbows rather than their hands to limit germ transmission, wash your hands often and if you are sick, stay home. Some recommend that if you have had a fever, you should stay home for 24 hours after the fever breaks.

Benton County has reportedly begun receiving the H1N1 vaccine, but apparently only 200 doses have been received so far. It should be available soon, although some people are not sure if they will receive the new vaccine, since it has been placed into distribution quicker than other medicines. But federal officials have assured the public that the vaccine is safe.