Message from Supt. Adam Birdregarding public health issues

The U.S. Department of Education has asked us to share information regarding the nationwide outbreak of enterovirus (EV-D68), concerns about the Ebola virus, and the upcoming flu season with staff, students and parents of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District.

To address these public health concerns, the U.S. Department of Education and federal health agencies have a number of informational resources to share with you. (Links to those resources are listed below.)

Almost all of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-confirmed cases this year of EV-D68 infection have been among children.  Many of the children had asthma or a history of wheezing.  Many parents continue to be worried about the outbreak and want information about what they can do to prevent illness and protect themselves and their families.

The CDC has developed information and resources for parents about EV-D68:

• Web Feature, “What Parents Need to Know About Enterovirus D68”
• Drop-in newsletter article , “Parents: Learn the Facts about Enterovirus D68”
• Fact sheet for parents, “What Parents Need to Know about Enterovirus D68”
• General questions and answers for the public
• Keep Your Child from Getting and Spreading Enterovirus D68

The CDC issued a press release on Oct. 14 sharing news about a new lab test developed by CDC for EV-D68 which will allow more rapid testing of specimens.  Because of this new test, confirmed cases of EV-D68 will appear to rise rapidly over the next 7-10 days as specimen testing accelerates.  However, changes in case counts won’t represent a real-time influx of new cases.

As entrovirus season is expected to taper off, flu activity usually begins to increase in October.

While there is not a vaccine to prevent illness from enterovirus, the single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated each year.  Many resources for parents and others can be found on the CDC flu web site.  CDC recommends that ALL children 6 months old or older get a flu vaccine.
The CDC is continually updating its information on Ebola, information that can be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students has a number of materials available regarding Readiness and Emergency Management of Schools in crisis situations, and those materials can be found here: http://rems.ed.gov/.  

Sincerely,

Adam Bird

Superintendent

New Richmond Exempted Village School District