School Officials are Preparing for Swine Flu in Mississippi

If or when swine flu comes to Mississippi, school officials say they have a plan in place.

While there are no confirmed cases of swine flu in Mississippi, today the state department of education is urging all school districts to be vigilant in guarding against the contagious respiratory disease. MPB's Lawayne Childrey reports.

The birthday song has a whole new meaning for these fourth graders at Lester Elementary School in Jackson. School nurse Sheila Hicks says washing your hands the amount of time it takes to sing the birthday song can help eliminate germs that could cause swine flu.

“We need to wash our hands before we eat lunch and after we use the bathroom. And whenever you feel that they are dirty, use soap and water and rub your hands together with friction and sing the birthday song and that way you know you’ve washed them long enough.”

As a precautionary measure against swine flu, State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Hank Bounds is urging school officials and parents to be proactive in fighting the disease, by focusing on good hygiene.

“We’re asking parents to talk to their children about cleanliness. Parents need to keep their children home if they are sick. We don’t have any confirmed cases, we want folks to remain calm but we want everybody to really focus on good hygiene. That’s the best thing that we can do to try to prevent this from happening in a school environment.”

That's a lesson plan that Lester Elementary Principal, Dr. Douglas Scott, has already initiated.

“You can’t keep them from passing things on to one another, you can’t keep them from chewing on things. Sometimes you wish they wouldn’t but uh, as long as we keep things cleaned and disinfected as much as possible, we haven’t seen any increase in the number of folks absent so we think were gonna be ok.”

Superintendent of education Hank Bounds says if or when swine flu comes to Mississippi, the state does have a plan in place to help protect students, staff and the community. For MPB News, I'm Lawayne Childrey.