ELYRIA — Ely Elementary School will be closed all of next week, officials announced Friday, after they learned children with swine flu may be contagious for longer than expected.Amy Higgins, spokeswoman for Elyria Schools, said the decision to close for another week was done at the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The school was closed this week after a 9-year-old boy tested positive for the virus —the first confirmed case in Ohio. 

Higgins said the district got a call from the Elyria City Health District, which gets its information from the state Health Department and the CDC, telling school officials the CDC “is now stating that children are likely to be infectious for seven to 10 days after the onset of the illness. Children, in particular, could be infectious for a longer period of time than originally thought. Based on this new information by the CDC, they have extended the time that a school that is closed for this flu should remain closed and extended that to a minimum of 14 days.”

Higgins said she understands the closing poses difficulties for families, but that it is better to be cautious.

“Everything we’ve done to this point is following the CDC’s and the Elyria health district’s recommendation,” Higgins said. “They’re saying children are contagious for seven to 10 days, and Monday would be the ninth day.

We can’t take that chance. If they’re saying we need to be closed for 14 days, we’re going to do it. It’s cautious, I know, but I think it’s better to err on the side of caution in this case.”

Swine flu has killed dozens in Mexico and world health officials are concerned about a pandemic. This week, the World Health Organization raised the pandemic alert to level 5 of 6.

An infectious disease specialist with University Hospitals said Friday that Elyria Schools did the right thing in closing Ely this week — and again next week — after tests confirmed the 9-year-old had contracted the swine flu. 

“In my opinion, your case there was handled very appropriately,” Dr. Amy Ray said Friday.

Ray specializes in adult infectious diseases at University Hospitals, where she serves as medical director for Community Infectious Control.

“Indications are that your own case is doing quite well,” Ray said. “It was a prudent decision to keep schools closed until there is a better handle on secondary transmissions.”

By closing the school, it immediately reduced the odds of additional swine flu cases.

“Children in a school setting have many close contacts that may put them at risk,” Ray said. 

Children and adults are both at risk from the new strain of swine flu because they lack any pre-formed antibodies to the virus,” Ray said. 

According to the CDC, symptoms of swine flu generally occur within two to seven days after a person is exposed to the virus, Ray said. “If you were exposed to a case today, it could be up to 10 days after that you could fall ill.”

Once students are dismissed from schools, or children from day care facilities, they are being encouraged not to gather in large numbers elsewhere, according to a release Friday from the CDC. Families needing child care are urged to work with two to three other families to provide that care for no more than five children at a time, according to the CDC, as studies suggest groups of five or fewer youngsters may experience fewer respiratory infections.

“The epidemiology is changing on a daily basis,” Ray said. “As more cases accrue, we’ll have a better understanding” of the disease and its impact on patients.

 “So far it has been mild. Only one child has died,” she said.

While the CDC urges schools to close to decrease the possibility of more people becoming ill from the swine flu, the Atlanta-based health agency acknowledged it has little data so far “on what the effectiveness of a school closure might be in preventing further community spread of this new virus.”

Extensive cleaning of schools, including wiping down of floors and walls before classes resume, is not deemed necessary, according to the CDC, as “it is unknown whether this would be helpful in decreasing the spread of influenza.”

Clif Barnes, public information officer with the Lorain County Emergency Management Team and Homeland Security, said a 41-year-old woman seen at St. John West Shore Hospital in Westlake tested positive for Type A influenza, but tested negative for swine flu, also being referred to as H1N1 influenza. 

Barnes said you must have Type A influenza in order to contract its variant, H1N1 influenza.

The county is still waiting for test results in two other cases: a 17-year-old girl seen at Amherst Hospital and a 44-year-old man seen at EMH Regional Medical Center, Barnes said, adding he doesn’t expect those results before Monday.

“All three are Lorain County residents, but they have no direct connection to the 9-year-old boy who tested positive,” Barnes said.

The Emergency Operations Center, which has been staffed 24 hours a day, will close this weekend and reopen at 8 a.m. Monday, Barnes said. The H1N1 hotline at (440) 324-3177 will continue to be staffed from noon to 8 p.m. over the weekend.

Calls to the hotline are confidential, Barnes said.

“They are not recorded, they are not tracked,” he said. “It’s a matter of getting the information out to the public. People should feel free and comfortable to call if they have a question.”

As for Ely Elementary, the district will have some decisions to make when the doors reopen May 11.

The closing has affected the district’s Ohio Achievement Testing and may lengthen the school year. Students have been preparing for weeks for the state testing of students’ math, reading and writing skills. Most districts took the tests this week.

“Testing and calamity days will require a conversation with the state, which we have not had yet,” Higgins said.
Ely Elementary only had two calamity days left at the beginning of the week, as it was closed three days for inclement weather during the winter. The school year may be lengthened unless the state steps in, Higgins said. The school did get a dispensation for testing week.

“We have asked the state schools superintendent for a dispensation on calamity days,” she said. “It’s reasonable to suspect the school year may last longer  … Whether we get (a dispensation) is up to state legislators.”

Ohio Department of Education spokesman Scott Blake said it is likely that Ely School will have to make up some missed days.

“We have windows that we can extend, under extraordinary circumstances,” Blake said. “I think this would fall under that category. Every school has contingency days built into their calendars. They could do a number of things to make up any days that they’ve missed.”

Blake said the school could hold class on an upcoming holiday, could meet on Saturdays or even add an extra half hour to the end of the regular school day to make up the time.

“It’s really up to the district to decide what they choose to do at this point,” Blake said.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.
Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

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