Many parents are concerned about the recent H1N1 flu illness within the Mobile community and surrounding areas.  As you may know, flu can be easily spread from person to person.  Therefore steps are being taken to reduce the spread of flu in the Mobile County Public School System-MCPSS (Watch MCPSS Health News conference).  The school system wants to keep schools open to our students and functioning in a normal manner during this flu season.  But MCPSS will need the help of parents to do this.

The system's Health and Social Services is working closely with the Alabama Department of Education and the Mobile County Health Department to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning schools.  MCPSS will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.

For now we are doing everything we can to keep our schools functioning as usual.  Here are a few things you can do to help.

• Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.  You can set a good example by doing this yourself.
• Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues.  Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve instead of the hand when a tissue is unavailable.
• Know the signs and symptoms of the flu.  Symptoms of the flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater) cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired.  Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.
• Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs.  Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected.
• Do not send children to school if they are sick.  Any children who are determined to be sick while at school will be sent home.

For more information, visit www.flu.gov, or call 1-800-CDC-INFO for the most current information about the flu.  MCPSS will notify parents and the community of any additional changes to our school system's strategy to prevent the spread of flu as it becomes available.