MIDDLEBOURNE - Absentee rates that quickly climbed from 30 percent to more than 50 percent prompted officials in Tyler County to close public schools there for much of this week.
Dorothy Lockett, nurse administrator for the Wetzel-Tyler Health Department, said officials decided Friday to close the schools Monday and today in an effort to allow students and teachers time to recover from the flu-like illness that was spreading through the district. She noted the timing was fortunate, as the weekend combined with the Veterans Day holiday Wednesday for a total of five consecutive days without classes.
Tyler County Schools Superintendent Jeff Hoover issued a notice Friday afternoon calling for the closure of all schools through Thursday, making Tyler County the third school system in the state to cancel classes due to illness this fall.
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The public lined up to receive swine, or H1N1, flu vaccination shots during a recent clinic at the Wheeling-Ohio County health Department.
All sports events and activities in Tyler County have been postponed, including basketball tryouts.
"We've been monitoring both the Wetzel and Tyler school systems," Lockett said.
Absenteeism early last week was high - about 30 percent - at A.I. Boreman Elementary School in Middlebourne and at Tyler Consolidated Middle School. Lockett said the rate continued to climb throughout the week, reaching upwards of 40 percent at A.I. Boreman by Friday afternoon. She added that many students who reported to school that day ended up going home early after displaying flu-like symptoms.
Attendance was even worse for the preschool program at Middlebourne, where more than 50 percent of the students were absent due to illness.
Lockett noted many teachers were affected as well, with officials unable to secure enough substitutes to cover the classes of those teachers who called in sick. Eight teachers in one school were too sick to work, she said.
In addition to closing the schools, officials contacted parents by letter and by phone, asking them to keep even apparently healthy children away from other youngsters - a precaution they hope will help stop the spread of the illness.
"We want to slow the spread and get it under control," Lockett said.
Some Tyler County children have been hospitalized as a result of the illness, but Lockett said there have been no related deaths.
According to Lockett, the illness - believed to be swine flu, or the H1N1virus, based on the prevalence of the disease - was not as widespread at Sistersville Elementary School or at Tyler Consolidated High School. She also expects the rate of infection throughout the district to be much lower when classes resume Thursday.
The health department has scheduled swine flu vaccinations by appointment only and is moving appointments up as more vaccine is received. Vaccines will be administered today and Saturday by appointment.
Lockett said she does not believe the flu will lead to school closings in neighboring counties. Although school absences have been higher than normal in Wetzel County, the numbers there have not been as high as in Tyler County.
"I don't anticipate any school closures there," she said.
She advises area residents to follow common-sense guidelines for disease prevention: wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze and stay home when you are ill.
Jonay Corley contributed to this report.