CPS school cancels class Friday after ‘significant’ number of confirmed flu cases
Three out of every 10 students at Roselawn Condon School stayed home Thursday with symptoms ranging from a fever to a scratchy, sore throat.
Students who have avoided getting sick said they've watched classmates come down with an illness that's just knocked them out.
"One of 'em threw up in the classroom today," said Dashalo Irby, a sixth-grader.
"Yesterday, I went to school and (after) a half-a-day, I couldn't stay," seventh-grader Elijah Foster said.
"There was one kid in our class, and he got really sick," sixth-grader Kaylee Hughes said. "Then he passed it on to some other people, so they got other people sick."
What some assumed was a stomach bug started biting Monday at the school on Summit Road.
"Students were sick to their stomachs and vomiting, some lethargy, some exhaustion," Cincinnati Public Schools spokesperson Lauren Worley said.
By Wednesday, 140 students called in sick. That number kept climbing Thursday.
"Today we have about 170 students at Roselawn Condon who are out of school out of about 484 enrolled in the school. Now, some kids stayed home today as a precaution," Worley said.
Taking every precaution necessary is a smart idea, according to infectious disease specialist Sharon Huchins with the Cincinnati Health Department.
"We really don't want people out and about while they're contagious," Huchins said.
Huchins is confident Condon School is experiencing a flu outbreak.
"We have been able to get one official diagnosis with a lab report, which is Influenza Type A," she said.
More lab tests should come back Friday, a day when all Condon students are being told to stay home.
"When you have flu, you are contagious to other people a day before you even notice you have symptoms (and) up to five and with children, seven days afterward," Huchins said.
Since the flu is so contagious, Huchins recommends following Kaylee Hughes' lead.
"I'm trying to wash my hands as frequently as possible, sneeze into my elbow, cough in my elbow and just stay away from all the sickness," Hughes said.