May 20, 2009 1:39 pm US/Eastern
Swine Flu Fears Spreading Through L.I. Schools
28 Schools Closed In New York, New Jersey; 13 New Confirmed Cases Of H1N1 On L.I.
VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Two seniors at Valley Stream Central High School wear masks on May 20, 2009 as a precaution after students at a nearby school were confirmed to have swine flu.
CBS
Swine flu has forced a Long Island school to shut its doors. Memorial Junior High in Valley Stream closed Wednesday after several kids were diagnosed with the virus. Now students at a nearby school are fearing the virus could soon spread to their building.
Memorial Day weekend came early to Memorial Junior High students here after eight were confirmed to have come down with the swine flu, forcing the school to close its doors until next Tuesday. The only people inside the school Wednesday morning were wearing masks, beginning the weeklong scrub-down. Just a few blocks away at Valley Stream Central High, the doors were open and two seniors were taking precautions to make sure they're not the next swine flu cases:
"A lot of people have brothers and sisters at Memorial Junior High, so we're trying to be safe because we don't want to get swine flu," said Blair Hutchinson, a senior at Valley Stream Central, who along with classmate Ashley Wallace, wore a mask as she spoke to CBS 2.
"Since they didn't close our school down, we decided to do this, and if they tell us to take the masks off, we're going to tell them to tell us to go home," said Wallace.
But parents were divided over whether to close all Valley Stream schools, since Nassau County health officials say four others students who don't attend the junior high also have swine flu.
"I think they should close everything because the children have siblings, they have friends. My son goes to Central. They should close everything if they're going to make that decision," said Cheryl Spencer, a concerned parent.
Yet parent Laurie Ann Santora felt it would be safe for Valley Stream Central to remain open. "I think it should as long as parents take precautions, and the kids have been spoken to wonderfully. Central has been very good," she said.
Besides the junior high in Valley Stream, 19 schools in Queens, two in the Bronx, one in Brooklyn and three in Manhattan have been shut down. There are also two schools in New Jersey closed because of swine flu concerns: the Robert Waters School in Union City and School #3 in the Fort Lee School District.
The youngest case of swine flu in Valley Stream is a 4-year-old child hospitalized Wednesday with fever, cough and congestion. That child and the family just returned from Mexico.
Symptoms of the swine flu include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting as well. Anyone experiencing severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, should seek health care and treatment. The best way to prevent additional cases of flu in schools is to stay home when sick, cover your mouth when coughing and sneezing, and wash hands frequently.
For those who are ill, the recommendation is to stay home until they are symptom-free for at least 24 hours.
Eating pork or pork products cannot spread the swine flu.
Q&A: What Is Swine Flu?
CDC Swine Flu Facts Sheet
Learn At Home Student Guides
CBS News Interactive: Fighting The Flu
CDC Emergency Updates Via Twitter
Swine Flu Twitter Live Search Results
David Burnia's Swine Flu Watch On Twitter
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