Obama admin says Washington Post: Stay open.

Washington Post: Stay open. That was the guidance issued Friday by the Obama administration to the nation’s schools as they prepare for the fall return of students, and swine flu. Ultimately, it’s up to local authorities whether to shut their schools. But the information gathered during and since the initial outbreak in April shows that in many cases it will make more sense to keep school in session.

Fears of swine flu (or H1N1, the scientific moniker preferred by the administration and the pork industry) led to the closure of more than 700 schools across the country in the spring. The guidelines released by the departments of Education and of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outline three situations when a school closure would be warranted: one, children with special needs are the majority, and swine flu emerges; two, large numbers of students and staff are hit with H1N1; or, three, parents send sick, feverish kids to school.

Separate room

The CDC also recommends that students and staff return to school 24 hours after their fever is gone, not after an extra week. Schools with students and staff members who appear to have flu-like symptoms are encouraged to send the sick to a separate room until they can be sent home. Students with ill household members should stay home for five days from the day that relative got sick. For more information, go to www.flu.gov.

Concern about swine flu is understandable. It roared to life in Mexico, came to the United States and then made its way to just about every corner of the world. The World Health Organization classifies it as an unstoppable pandemic. So far, it is less deadly than regular flu, which claims 36,000 lives in the United States every year. But researchers are carefully following the virus’s progression and potential mutations as it makes its way through the Southern Hemisphere’s winter.

As they have since the initial outbreak of swine flu, federal officials are counseling common sense in responding to the next wave of illness.