Hundreds of area students are absent from classes

By BECKY WALDROP

Gazette-Times reporter

A contagious respiratory virus has plagued local schools in the last week, with hundreds of Corvallis and Philomath school children staying home to recuperate. Symptoms include a fever, congestion, aches and a sore throat, county health officials said.

At Philomath Middle School, Principal Larry Sleeman said more than 150 children were absent Wednesday, an unusually high number even for the cold and flu season. On a typical day, there are 20 to 30 absences.

"It's really hit us hard," Sleeman said.

It was a similar story at Philomath Elementary School, which had 62 absences Wednesday and at Westland Middle School, where 115 students were absent Tuesday. Early this week, 175 students were out at Corvallis High School, 100 were absent at Cheldelin Middle School, 50 were out at Adams Elementary School, 57 were absent Lincoln Elementary School and 65 were absent at Mountain View Elementary School.

Parents who called schools to report absences said their children complained of scratchy throats and congestion, had fevers in the 102-103 degree range and were lethargic.

Adriane Moss, a communicable disease nurse with Benton County Health Department, said that the likely cause for the illnesses is a virus. It's not the flu or the more serious Norwalk-like virus, which about a dozen Benton County residents were diagnosed with in mid-December.

The best thing to do for a respiratory virus is to treat a fever with ibuprofen or Tylenol, (children and teenagers should not take aspirin because of the risk of Reye syndrome), and to drink lots of fluids. Most cases last from a few days up to 10 days.

"You may hear of some kids who have nausea, but it's secondary to a high fever, sore throat and body aches," she said.

Because this is a virus, it would be unlikely that a flu shot would keep anyone from getting sick, Moss said. The best way to keep from getting sick is good hygiene, particularly washing hands often. So far, schools have been hit the hardest, Moss said, and so far, there have not been any reports of the these symptoms in senior care facilities.

People with a fever are advised to stay home from school and work, but exposure to someone with only a sore throat does not appear to increase transmission of the virus. The health department works with schools, passing along suggestions for how to kill the virus through routine cleaning.

The heath department does not track cases of viruses such as this one. School administrators and Moss agreed that this latest bout seems to have affected more people than the typical virus.

"Anecdotally it seems like there's been a lot more of this stuff this year," Moss said.

With this virus, parents don't need to take a sick child to the doctor unless a fever does not respond to medication, or if a child is so lethargic that he or she is not getting enough to drink.

"If they're not able to control the fever or keep a child hydrated … they should definitely consult a physician," Moss said.

Becky Waldrop covers youth and education for the Gazette-Times. She can be reached by e-mail at waldropb@gtconnect.com or by phone at 758-9510.