November 15, 2022
Fern Ridge Middle School Families,
As health officials have predicted it’s shaping up to be a nasty flu season.
Fern Ridge Middle School is very close to meeting the requirements for an “Influenza Outbreak” as defined by Lane County Public Health. As of today (11-15-22) Fern Ridge Middle School has 28% of its enrolled students and several staff members that are out due to flu-like illness.
We are actively working on mitigation measures, tracking illnesses, and parent communication to try to slow this outbreak. The schools are increasing their cleaning procedures and diligently screening students for symptoms. We do not expect any school closures related to illnesses.
There are other cases of influenza within the other Fern Ridge School District schools and it is reasonable to predict those schools will soon have increased cases. Please know there are other school districts that are also experiencing high volumes of influenza cases.
What you can do to help?
- Please do not send your child to school if they have had a fever within 24 hours.
- Please remind your child to practice germ control measures
- Wash hands or use hand sanitizer often
- Do not touch your face
- Cover coughs
- Consider wearing a mask if you or someone around you doesn’t feel well
- If you do want to have your child tested for flu/rsv/covid, please try to do so through your primary care provider as urgent care and emergency departments are currently overwhelmed. (Orchid health does not do flu testing but they do have the flu vaccine).
**Please know that in addition to this increase in flu cases the state of Oregon has recently declared a state of emergency due to a significant increase in RSV cases among children. RSV is spread the same way influenza is spread. RSV can be very dangerous for small children, even leading to hospitalization.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions,
Nurse Elliott
Fern Ridge District Nurse, selliott@fernridge.k12.or.us
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