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MON-SAT: 10-6, SUN: 12-5 MoH says second wave of H1N1 virus hitting schools Continued from page 3 FOR ALL YOUR BABY PRODUCTS UP TO SALE 60% Off Wednesday, November 4th d e a e 9:30 a.m. ­ 11:30 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. ­ 7:30 p.m. 30 m 3 a.m. 11:30 a.m. : 0 m 5:30 p m 3 m OPEN HOUSE We're Closer Than You Currently, over 550 students residing Burlington, F Currently, over 550 students residing n Burl ngton Flam Currently, over 550 students residing in Burlington, Flamb urrently over rr ve students residing Burlington, Flamborough uden esiding Burlington, de sid din Burlington, urlington, and Oakville take advantage our daily busing se and Oakville take advantage of our daily busing ser vice and Oakville take advantage of our daily busing service. n a ville vanta ntage ag daily bus ng service ly busing THINK CO-ED MONTESSORI, JUNIOR, MIDDLE, SENIOR w ww.h sc .on.ca ww w. hs c. on.ca www.hsc.on.ca | 905-389-1367 | 299 Fennell Ave. West, Hamilton w w h s c n.ca .ca ca a 05-389-1367 5-389-1367 -389-1367 389-1367 89-1367 9-1367 -1367 1367 367 67 7 Fe Fen F est, Hamil Hamilt Hamilto Hami Ham Ha H another outbreak this fall. The Health Department has been monitoring the virus in the schools through an online absenteeism reporting system since the school year began. Nosal said it would appear the second wave of outbreaks of the virus has started, as the number of students missing due to influenzalike symptoms has recently jumped. "Within the last week and into this week, there is increasing H1N1 activity in the schools," he said. "One of the indicators we are looking at is the percentages of the number of schools with more than two per cent absenteeism for influenza-like illness. In late September and early October, it really varied anywhere from three to 15 per cent of schools would have more than two per cent absenteeism. "What we are noticing in the last two weeks is that it is now double digits, with 10 to 19 per cent of schools. On Monday (Oct. 19), 30 per cent of the schools were reporting more than two per cent absenteeism due to influenza-like illness. The highest absenteeism in any school was 19 per cent, so at that school, one in five kids were off with flulike illness." Nosal said it is impossible to know how many of these students have H1N1, as opposed to the common cold. However, with a higher percentage of positive results among those tested in the past few weeks, he said it is safe to assume it is in schools in all four communities within Halton. He said there is no concentration of the virus in any specific community. "Certainly not all of them (student absences) would be H1N1, but going by the percentage of positive tests, a significant percentage of them would have H1N1," he said. The good news is that this second strain does not appear to be more virulent than the one that went through Halton schools in the spring. This is concurrent with the results seen in Australia, which recently enjoyed winter -- a prime time for the spread of the H1N1 virus. There, the second wave was no worse than the first, with a very low mortality rate. "The overall illness from H1N1 is actually a little less than from the seasonal flu, but where you normally see the higher hospitalizations and death rates in the elderly, there has been more of a shift (with H1N1) in per cent of hospitalizations with the younger population," Nosal said. "Although the younger people are more likely to contract it, if you go by the Australia/New Zealand experience, it is pretty comparable to a normal flu season. That's good news." There is no reason for any school closures at this time and the Health Department will continue to work with the local schools and school boards, Nosal said. "We continue to emphasize those key public health messages and the schools are doing a great job of that," he said. He added that parents should be reminding their children of good hygiene habits and if children do fall ill with H1N1 symptoms, they should be kept home from school. Nosal said that latest medical research explains why the younger populations are more prone to contracting the disease, compared to older generations. "It is believed that those born before 1957 were exposed to a related virus that gave some residual immunity," he said. The H1N1 vaccine arrived in Halton on Wednesday. The Region's Health Department will be offering clinics starting Oct. 28. The first week of clinics will serve those at highest risk for contracting H1N1, such as pregnant women in their last half of pregnancy, children from six months to five years of age, health care workers, and those with chronic medical conditions under the age of 65. Starting the week of Nov. 2, clinics will be open to all members of the general public, such as healthy children between ages five and 18, healthy adults between 19 and 64 years of age, and adults 65 years of age and over. Nosal reminds parents that children aged six months to nine years need two doses of the vaccine, administered at least 21 days apart. He said that once the vaccine starts to be administered, the number of cases in the schools will correspondingly decrease. "Ideally, it would have been great to start immunizing people before we even start to see an increase in transmission, but we knew that the vaccine wasn't going to come until early November, or in this case, late October, and there very likely would be transmission," he said. "Now, the whole point at getting those at risk and then others immunized is to decrease transmission and decrease the amount of people who get seriously ill with H1N1." The complete list of H1N1 immunization clinics, with dates and times of operation, can be found online at www.halton.ca or by dialing 311, 905-825-6000, toll free 1-866-4425866 or TTY 905-827-9833. Gliding Shelf Solutions Inc.