DOLLAR BAY - A high number of students at Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Area Schools going home sick Friday has caused concern about the H1N1 flu and led to the closing of the school today and Tuesday.
Superintendent Jan Quarless said early Friday 48 students had either called in sick or went home sick, and by the end of the day 70 to 75 students in a population of 290 were out sick with flu symptoms, which led to the decision to cancel school.
"It just continued to escalate," he said. "We chose to use the weekend and a couple extra days to address the issue."
Quarless said he talked to Terry Frankovich, Western Upper Peninsula Health Department medical director, about the situation, and school should be back in session Wednesday.
Teachers are not at school during the closure, either, Quarless said. The building will be thoroughly cleaned while the school is closed.
Frankovich said Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Area Schools is the first school district to close because of H1N1 in her coverage area, which includes Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties, and the Public Health, Delta and Menominee counties, and Dickinson-Iron District Health Department.
Although the DB-TC students haven't been tested specifically for H1N1, Frankovich said it's assumed they do have the virus.
"At this time of year, it's a pretty good probability it's H1N1," she said.
Frankovich said 99 percent of flu cases reported in the United States now are assumed to be H1N1. It is widespread in 41 states.
In her coverage area, Frankovich said there are now very few confirmed cases of seasonal flu, which typically begins in winter and peaks in February.
Testing for the disease in Michigan is done in Lansing, and officials there, as elsewhere around the country, are testing only if flu shows up under certain circumstances, such as in hospitals, with pregnant women or in nursing homes.
Frankovich said the closure of the DB-TC schools is a good precautionary move.
"It allows the large number of kids who went home to recover," she said. "Most people (who get the flu) recover in a week."
Even after the fever from H1N1 flu breaks, Frankovich said those who had the illness should stay home another 24 hours to make certain it's finished.
Frankovich said to help stop the spread of H1N1, people should take certain precautions, such as constant hand washing and covering their mouths when coughing or sneezing.
More doses of the H1N1 vaccine are expected at the health department within the next couple weeks, and Frankovich said parents should watch for information from their children's schools about times and places for immunization clinics.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@ mininggazette.com.