Health Alert from the New Fairfield Schools

On Thursday, October 16th, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Alicia Roy sent the following message to the New Fairfield community address both current health concerns Enterovirus D68 and Ebola: 

"As we have already shared with you, the United States has been experiencing a nationwide outbreak of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) associated with severe respiratory illness.   At the same time, you may also have questions about the Ebola virus.   To address both public health concerns, the U.S. Department of Education along with federal health partners have a number of informational resources to share with you. 

The following is the information that was sent to me this afternoon:

“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.  Please help us to address parents’ questions and concerns and make them aware that these resources are available.

Below are CDC resources about EV-D68 developed for parents:

·          Web Feature, “What Parents Need to Know About Enterovirus D68”

·          Drop-in newsletter article (matte 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

·          Infographic: Keep Your Child from Getting and Spreading Enterovirus D68

Yesterday, the CDC issued a press release 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.

Remember, too, as enterovirus season is expected to taper off, flu activity usually begins to increase in October.  While there is not a vaccine to prevent illness from enteroviruses,  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 website. CDC recommends that ALL children 6 months old or older get a flu vaccine.

Finally, we know your communities may also have questions about what schools can do to keep students and adults safe from the Ebola virus.  The President has made control of Ebola a top national security priority, and we as a nation have spent more than $100 million fighting this outbreak since the first cases were reported last March in Africa. Our national health system has the capacity and expertise to quickly detect and contain this disease and is working with states and school districts to ensure the safety of our students and school employees.  As you likely know, the CDC is continually updating its information on Ebola, information that can be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html.

Our Department’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/.  One resource at this web link is steps that the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) has taken to keep parents and community partners continually updated on the Ebola situation there, including establishing a web site: http://www.dallasisd.org/healthupdates.”

Please contact Dr. Alicia Roy, Superintendent of Schools at 203-312-5770 or the New Fairfield Director of Health, Mr. Tim Simpkins at 203-312-5642, if you have any questions."