11/4/2009 8:10:02 AM

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By Jeff Hansel

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

Lourdes High School has been in the "hot" petri dish of H1N1 influenza, and half of the students have been sickened so far.

	What happened: Since the school year began, half of the students at Lourdes High School in Rochester have been ill with H1N1 flu. Why it matters: Lourdes is rethinking whether it should have closed to try to prevent the flu from spreading when a significant number of students became ill. What's next: School officials will continue to weigh all the consequences when deciding whether to suspend classes because of flu.

Principal Thomas Donlon said he's rethinking the way the school responded during the first wave of H1N1 and wonders if the school should have closed.

"If you've got five petri dishes, he said, "it makes sense that you'd take the hottest one out. That's kind of what Lourdes was."

Health authorities recommended that schools remain open because H1N1 continued to spread during the spring, even though schools closed then.

Lourdes absences climbed to 27 on Oct. 8. School officials notified the state for the first time that more than 5 percent of the 442 students were home sick. Absences ballooned to 161 on Oct. 13, 36 percent of the school population.

"We've been fortunate that all students here at Lourdes have recovered fully. That's God's good fortune," Donlon said.

But he wonders what would have happened had he made the tough decision to cancel homecoming and given kids time to get well instead of time together at group events, where it's likely many were infected with H1N1.

During MEA weekend, students had 4 1/2 days away from each other. Absences dropped from 97 the day before MEA to 24 the day after. By Oct. 23, they had dropped to the single digits.

"When looking at the data above, the recovery rate we experienced over MEA was not accidental. The long break gave our students an opportunity to recover, and the continued spread of flu-like illness was reduced," Donlon wrote to parents. "While Public Health may not require schools to close because it does not completely eliminate the spread of illness, placing students in a setting where flu-like illness is known to be widespread isn't helpful either."

Students sent home

Students who went to school sick worried they would miss tests and assignments, and some athletes didn't want to miss games. On Oct. 12, Donlon said, 47 students who went to school ill were sent home.

"There's no game, there's no quiz, there's no test that's worth exposing others to illness. There really isn't," Donlon said.

If there's another wave of H1N1 at Lourdes, Donlon said, the school will probably suspend tests, reduce homework and perhaps cancel extracurricular activities.

The good news for Lourdes is that everyone who gets H1N1 or a vaccination should have immunity, said Olmsted County epidemiologist Larry Edmonson.

"Now a good 50 percent of the Lourdes population has been exposed and has developed immunity," Donlon said.

Decision to close school

Decisions about whether to close school are left to school leaders, Edmonson said.

"Although the decision is usually based upon the inability to field enough teachers and/or support staff to get the job done, there may be other factors such as the level of student illness, parental concerns, staff fears, etc., that can influence the decision," Edmonson said.

Most schools haven't seen the rapid accelerating of absences seen at Lourdes, Edmonson said, although the Rochester school district was unable to provide absenteeism rates.

"It is never clear whether closing a school early would change the outcome, but I understand why they are examining their options," Edmonson said.

Reporter Jeff Hansel covers health for the Post-Bulletin. Read his blog, Pulse on Health, at Postbulletin.com.

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