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Laurel School Closes Over H1N1 Cases
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CBS
A Maryland principal is taking action against the swine flu, ordering the school closed after five students are confirmed to have the virus.
The number of cases is spreading in Maryland, but now we have a weapon. Mary Bubala explains the first batch of the H1N1 vaccine has arrived.
Nurses and doctors at Maryland General Hospital got the first public doses of the new H1N1 vaccine Tuesday.
"Good for my patients, good for me," said Koren Jenkins.
"It's very important. I have a young baby at home, too, so I especially don't want to take anything back home to her," said Keisha Ritter, RN.
Until there's enough H1N1 vaccine, there's concern about it spreading too quickly.
At St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, there are several confirmed cases and 20% of the student body was out of class on Tuesday.
"I mean 100 students out of 500 is significant," said principal Stephen Edmonds.
In the spring, the state would shut down any school with one confirmed case of swine flu. That's not the guideline now. This school is taking a day of precaution on its own.
"Make sure the building is thoroughly cleaned, all the surfaces, and then just try to be proactive on a daily basis after that would put us ahead of the game," Edmonds said.
This is the first Maryland school this fall to shut down for a day.
"I really don't think one day of closure is going to help. Not at all. What's one day going to do? You're going to wash the whole school in one day and someone who's got it again is going to come back and then you've got to close it again. I don't think it's going to help at all," said parent Russell Caudil.
"It's good that they're going to clean up their act and make sure they try to control it," said Ruth Drumm.
"It's better to shut down the school, clean up the place and make sure everything's clean before the kids come back," said Chris Emelife.
By the end of October, the State Health Department plans to have 800,000 H1N1 doses for 3,000 sites. They promise that the H1N1 shots will be as safe as the seasonal flu shots.
"There's no scientific evidence to believe that this vaccine is unsafe because it's manufactured in the same way we do the seasonal flu vaccine," said Dr. Wilbur Chen.
Doses of the seasonal flu vaccine are available and being distributed now. Every day, more H1N1 doses are expected to arrive.
St. Vincent Pallotti High School will reopen on Thursday.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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