Dear Parents and Guardians:

I would like to update you on information with regards to the Galvin Middle School (GMS).  A rumor has been circulating that one of our GMS students has contracted the H1N1 virus. We do have a high number of GMS students who are absent,  and some of those students have flu like symptoms.  However, we do not have a confirmed case of the H1N1 flu.  If a child has influenza symptoms and has recently been seen by a doctor, the doctor may have swabbed the child to see if he or she has Type A influenza.  If that test, which takes place in a doctor’s office, is positive, it does not necessarily mean that the child has H1N1 flu. There are a number of Type A influenza strains that are currently circulating,  and only one of those strains is H1N1.  

In order to ascertain if an Influenza Type A is H1N1, a doctor needs to send the test sample to a state lab for further assessment.  The results of state lab tests are reported to both the Board of Health in Canton and to our head nurse, Ms. Janet Donnelly.  As of today, we do not have any indication from the state that one of our students has the H1N1 flu.  If this situation changes, I will share that information with you as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, we do have a high number of absences at the Galvin (104 students out of a population of 735).  We are collecting information from the families of children who are absent to gain a better idea of why the child is not in school so that we have accurate information as to how many students have flu like symptoms.  As an example of the importance of this information, one of the nurses just reported to me that out of 26 calls, she reached 15 parents.  Out of the 15, 10 students were kept home for reasons unrelated to flu symptoms.  I mention this so that you can understand how one has to carefully interpret data while monitoring this situation.

If you have a child who has flu symptoms, we ask that you keep your child home for seven days in order to insure that he or she is completely healthy before returning to school.  In addition, ill children should avoid places where others congregate.  Please continue to follow the basic principles that you have heard and read about for maintaining the health of your child (frequent hand washing, covering one’s mouth while coughing, etc.).

I continue to work closely with John Ciccotelli, Director of Public Health in Canton, Terri Khoury, Canton’s Public Health Nurse, and Canton Public Schools’ Nurse Leader, Janet Donnelly, to respond to this changing situation in a timely and effective way.  We will be reviewing absenteeism data on a daily basis and consulting with state and local health officials to insure that any decisions we make are both scientifically sound and based on accurate information.

John D’Auria, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Canton, Massachusetts