School absences in Bellevue up after suspected cases of swine flu
May 4, 2009 · Updated 5:49 PM
Bellevue schools were noticeably emptier today as three suspected cases of swine flu surfaced since Friday.
Warning signs first appeared after six Tyee students returned early from a trip to Camp Orkila with flu-like symptoms on May 1. Five more children were sick when the remaining group arrived home later that day.
Suspected cases of swine flu have occurred since then with one student apiece from Tyee Middle School, Spiritridge Elementary, and Ardmore Elementary.
Public Health - Seattle and King County directed all of those individuals to stay home, although none of their ailments have yet been confirmed as H1N1.
All Tyee students who attended Camp Orkila remained home Friday and again on Monday, with the school district asking parents to monitor those children.
Schools must report absence rates exceeding 10 percent to the health department.
Over 21 percent of Tyee students and 10 percent at Spiritridge were absent Monday.
All schools in the district remained open Monday, as the health department had not recommended closures.
Twenty-eight cases of probable swine flu have been documented in King County between April 29 and May 4.
The health department advises parents to keep their students home for seven days if they show signs of flu. Symptoms include high temperature, sore throat, bad cough, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, body aches, and chills.
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