Orangeburg Consolidated School District 4 officials said Monday they are taking proper precautions after three students at Edisto Primary preliminarily tested positive for swine flu.

Assistant Superintendent Judy Sherman said the students’ symptoms were noticed late Friday afternoon.

“We had several reports of cases of the H1N1 virus in the area. Some are in our school district and some, of course, are in the surrounding area. We are currently working with DHEC regarding the situation, and we’re taking precautions at the schools and the district office to keep students and staff safe as outlined by DHEC and the CDC,” Sherman said.

Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School officials also had to take to take precautionary measures after a student there preliminarily tested positive for swine flu.

“What we’re hearing is the confirmation of the swine flu takes time. It appears we may have swine flu, but it has not been confirmed at this point,” Sherman said.

The three Edisto Primary students were preliminarily diagnosed with swine flu after being tested by a physician, Sherman said. She said the results have been sent to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control for official determination.

The district is working with DHEC to be able to offer the swine flu vaccine to all students and staff once it becomes available.

“DHEC at this point has not provided us a delivery date. That’s what we’re working with,” Sherman said, adding that the district is taking every precautions, including disinfecting the school.

“If a child is ill with a fever, cough, runny nose, etc., he should be evaluated by a physician. If they’ve been ill, they need to be fever free for at least 24 hours before returning back to school as recommended by the nurse,” Sherman said.

Greg Carson, spokesman for Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5, said while there haven’t been any confirmed cases of swine flu in the district, officials are trying to err on the side of caution by sending letters to parents about what they can do to prevent the illness, including hand washing and not sending children to school if they are sick.

“We’ve had several kids that have flu-like symptoms, and we have to report those (to DHEC). We did that, but nobody with a confirmed case of the swine flu. We’re trying to take all the precautionary measures we can. We’ve sent letters to our parents regarding the swine flu. We’re making sure that we’ve informed our parents, teachers and staff members,” Carson said.

He said district custodians have been working overtime making sure bathrooms are stocked with extra supplies.

DHEC recommends individuals take simple but important steps to stop the spread of the flu. They include: washing hands thoroughly; covering the mouth with a sleeve, not a hand, when coughing; staying at home when sick; staying away from people who are sick; eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of rest.

“The same things that you would do to prevent yourself from catching the regular seasonal flu are pretty much the same thing you would do for H1N1,” said Drew Gerald, disease surveillance and response coordinator at the Orangeburg County Health Department.

“Thus far, the H1N1 virus hasn’t proven to be any more serious in regards to mortality and/or morbidity than regular flu. Thousands of folks actually succumb to regular seasonal flu or complications from it on a yearly basis,” he said.

Gerald said individuals should consult their private physician or, if they don’t have one, visit the nearest urgent care center if they begin exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

DHEC reports that symptoms of both the novel H1N1 flu and regular, seasonal flu are similar. They include sudden onset of fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and extreme tiredness. Some people who have been infected with the novel H1N1 flu virus also have reported upset stomach, diarrhea and vomiting.

“The symptoms are pretty much the same as those for the regular, seasonal flu. It’s more or less fever, achiness and lack of energy. The difference lies in the strain of the virus more so than in the symptoms,” Gerald said.

For more information about the swine flu, visit the http://www.thetandd.com/swineflu.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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