With most schools opening in Vermont this week, state health and education officials are advising school administrators and nurses to prepare for the upcoming flu season, including organizing "planning teams" to slow any outbreak of the new H1N1 flu and limit its impact on student health and classroom time.

"We expect that the H1N1 virus will be circulating, along with the regular seasonable flu viruses, during this fall and winter season," Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca and Health Commissioner Wendy Davis wrote to school administrators last week, referring to what is commonly called "swine flu."

"Public health experts expect to see more illness from the new flu than this past spring, and more school-centered outbreaks. However, the timing, spread and severity of influenza illness still is uncertain.

"We know that the new flu virus especially affected children in schools, camps and other group settings," the state officials wrote in the Aug. 19 letter. "We also know that closing schools to minimize exposure to the flu is not the best choice in most cases, and may have undesired consequences, such as students being left at home alone."

Schools are taking the threat seriously.

In a letter dated Aug. 18 and posted on the Roxbury-Northfield school district Web site, for example, Superintendent Michele Fagan and high school nurse Sally Kirn offer parents advice on how to keep their children healthy and what to watch for in the event of an outbreak.

"We are counting on parents to monitor their children's coughs and fevers to help us with this flu," the two wrote. "At school nurses will evaluate and may send students home for the same symptoms."

Rutland Superintendent Mary Moran posted similar information on that district's Web site this week, as well, noting, "Novel Influenza A (H1N1) – first known as the swine flu — has not gone away. This new flu is still in Vermont and the rest of the country during the usually flu-free weeks of summer. We expect that the H1N1 virus will be circulating, along with the regular seasonal flu viruses, during this fall and winter season. However, the timing, spread and severity of influenza illness is uncertain.

"Our school nurses and district personnel continue to plan for the upcoming season and will monitor this situation carefully to assess the need for appropriate action," Moran wrote.

State Epidemiologist Patsy Kelso said Monday schools are being told to expect the best but prepare for an outbreak – to essentially expect to keep schools open but plan for a closure should that become necessary.

"We are saying try and be prepared for a range of scenarios," Kelso said. "The new CDC guidance really stresses doing what we can to keep kids safe and healthy while letting the education process continue."

Kelso said the Health Department is working with nurses to prepare for the coming school year, and those nurses aren't too concerned about a swine flu outbreak.

"School nurses are used to seeing kids with flu and all kinds of other illnesses. I think they are approaching this as 'this is different flu, a bit of a different scenario,'" she said. But, she added, "They're used to knowing what to do when kids are sick."

Kelso said Vermont expects to receive some amount of the new vaccine — based on population — in mid-October.

In addition, a new vaccine that is being rapidly developed to stem the spread of the flu is expected this fall, and the Department of Health might make students in schools a priority for receipt of that vaccine.

"Schools may very well make ideal staging areas for administering the vaccine, and we are working together to plan for school-based vaccination clinics at some locations," the commissioners wrote.

"School children are one of the CDC target groups for vaccination," Kelso reiterated on Monday. "We are making plans for possible school-based vaccination clinics."

Among the proposals cited in the commissioners' Aug. 19 letter was encouraging schools to review plans and procedures for dismissing students, "just in case." Assuming the flu severity does not exceed the cases seen this spring, schools should remain open and take steps to limit the transmission of the illness, the commissioners instruct.

But if problems develop – a high number of teachers out, for example – schools should consult with the Department of Health in deciding whether to shut down. Closures will be reported to a new national School Dismissal Monitoring System that keeps tabs on the progression of the swine flu in the United States. Vermont's Health and Education departments will be notified through that system.

The Vermont Health Department is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in preparation for any possible fall or winter outbreak of flu. The CDC's advice for schools:

Those with flu-like illness should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines.

Students and staff who appear to have flu-like illness should be sent to a room separate from others until they can be sent home. CDC recommends that they wear a surgical mask, if possible, and that those who care for ill students and staff wear protective gear such as a mask.

Stay home when sick, wash hands frequently with soap and water when possible, and cover noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

School staff should routinely clean areas that students and staff touch often with the cleaners they typically use.

Kelso said Vermont's flu season typically is in winter, when temperatures are cold and humidity is low, perfect for transmission.

And, she added, given children's lack of "respiratory hygiene," "we do know that every flu season schools are one of the settings where flu viruses can be easily transmitted."

sue.allen@timesargus.com