U.S. gov't issues new guidelines for schools on A/H1N1 flu

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government released on Friday new guidelines for the pandemic of the A/H1N1 flu, discouraging the closure of schools before it is badly attacked by the virus.

"We know from the spring that where there was H1N1 there were very large explosive outbreaks in schools," said Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We know now that closing schools is not the best option in most cases."

According to the guidelines, closure of the affected schools can cause more social costs such as unsupervised children, health workers stuck at home to care for children, missed meals and missed education.

So the government recommends that school officials try some other ways rather than closure to slow the spread of the H1N1 flu, such as keeping students more widely separated and stressing hand hygiene.

The guidelines also said that sick students should be stay in a separate room immediately waiting for their parents to take them home, can return to school 24 hours after their fever breaks, instead of the full seven days previously recommended.

However, schools involving pregnant mothers and disabled children are an exception, since they are people at high risk from flu, said the guidelines.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has said earlier that the guidelines would be issued soon for preschools, day-care centers and colleges and universities.