Chicago school officials shut down an elementary school today after one child contracted a probable case of swine flu, and the Illinois Health Department said other cases are suspected in the state.
The likely cases are Illinois’ first in a swine-flu outbreak that has killed more than 150 in Mexico and spread across the U.S. and other parts of the world. The first U.S. swine flu death in the current outbreak was confirmed today, a 23-month-old child in Texas.
In Chicago, attendance dropped at the Joyce Kilmer Elementary School before the student was found to have a probable case of swine flu, school officials said.
Chicago Department of Health Director Terry Mason said the child is recovering at home.
“Parents should not be alarmed but they should be prepared,” he said. “If children are sick, keep them home.”
Chicago Public School officials said that for privacy reasons they aren’t releasing any information about the student, including how the child may have contracted the illness.
Arlette Crawford, 40, learned about the probable case of swine flu when she arrived at the school with her 5-year-old daughter, Aaliyah.
“I am pretty nervous,” she said, recalling how on Tuesday she ate breakfast at the school with her daughter and they sat near another girl who had a flushed face, raspy voice and was sneezing. Crawford said she and a teacher persuaded the mother to take that child home.
Principal Marsha Engquist of the nearby private Lake Shore School noted that this is the season for children to be sick for several reasons that cause similar symptoms, including allergies.
CPS Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman said state health officials alerted him Tuesday night that a student at the North Side elementary school had a probable case of swine flu. He said the district alerted families through a phone system and closed the school.
The Chicago closing came as President Barack Obama urged school districts with confirmed cases of swine flu to consider closing to help control spread of the illness.
“Parents should also think about contingencies if schools in their areas should shut down ... . Just sending a (sick) child from a school to a day care center would not be a good solution,” Obama said.
“Probable” means state health officials’ tests show swine flu is probable. Officials say the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make the final determination on whether Illinois’ cases match the swine flu outbreak in Mexico.
As of 2008, Hispanic students made up 59.9 percent of Kilmer’s population, according to CPS, but Mason cautioned against drawing conclusions or stereotyping. The school serves preschool through eighth grade.
Some parents who had not heard about the school closure arrived with their children this morning and were met by school staff on the sidewalk distributing a one-page flu information sheet in English and Spanish.
Mason said the school would be cleaned, but emphasized that the flu spreads through contact between people.
“It’s not doorknobs and water faucets, it’s children coughing and sneezing,” he said. “We want to emphasize that the building is not a problem.”