On the morning of November 12, Mr. Lo Van Thiep - Principal of Con Cuong Boarding Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities (Con Cuong Commune, Nghe An) - said that the school is giving 388 students a day off to prevent the A flu epidemic.
"Regarding the number of students infected with the flu, we are continuing to count. According to the initial review, out of 6 classes, 9 students in the low class had to be hospitalized, the high class had 22 students hospitalized due to severe flu infection, the rest were treated at home" - Mr. Lo Van Thiep added.
According to the school's leaders, more than a week ago, some students showed symptoms of headaches, high fever... but thought it was a common cold, so they only took medicine themselves. After a few days, the number of students with similar symptoms increased rapidly.
Through preliminary understanding, by November 11, more than 160 students had influenza A. The rapid outbreak, the school coordinated with Con Cuong Medical Center to disinfect the entire campus, boarding area, dining room and group activity area. All students are off from school, go home for treatment and monitor their health.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Chief of Office of Nghe An Department of Education and Training - said that after receiving information that many students of Con Cuong Boarding Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities were infected with influenza A, the department has directed the school to urgently coordinate with the People's Committee of the commune and Con Cuong Medical Center to implement measures to prevent and control the epidemic, prioritize protecting students' health and preventing spread in the community.
"After students' health recovers, the school will implement measures such as self-study instructions, compensation teaching... Compensation teaching here is favorable due to the characteristics of boarding schools" - Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan added.
Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporters, the leader of Nghe An Provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC Nghe An) said that seasonal flu is the most common and mild epidemic among infectious diseases, most patients recover by themselves.
Therefore, it is not necessary for schools to close when some students are infected, except in special cases, when the incidence rate is high or serious complications appear, so isolation is needed to control the source of infection.
It is known that currently in Nghe An province, besides Con Cuong Boarding Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities, no other school has reported the situation of many students infected with seasonal flu, teaching and learning activities are still taking place normally.
