(06/18/2009) The Sag Harbor School District announced last week that two of its high school students had the swine flu virus.
John Gratto, the superintendent, made the announcement last Thursday, both in a letter to parents and in a posting on the district’s Web site. He said Dr. Mark Kot of Southampton had informed the district that two Pierson High School students had confirmed cases of the H1N1 influenza A virus. In the letter Dr. Gratto said the students would not return to school until Dr. Kot had cleared them.
Yesterday Dr. Gratto said the students had been cleared and returned to school earlier this week, having spent almost seven days at home before he was even informed they had the virus. They were busy taking finals and Regents exams, he said, adding that there have been no further cases.
Dr. Gratto said he did not want parents, students, or staff members to be alarmed. He had asked the County Health Department how to proceed, he said, and it recommended that anyone with flu-like symptoms stay home from school for seven days after they appeared, or for at least 24 hours after they went away.
“Any student illness should be reported to the school nurse or other designated school official immediately,” Dr. Gratto said the Health Department advised.
It did not recommend that school be closed, he said, adding that the department said that “the severity of H1N1 is less than originally thought, and the advice is to treat it as any seasonal flu.”
Until last week’s cases in Sag Harbor, the easternmost case of swine flu on Long Island had been in Hampton Bays.
On Monday, the County Health Department announced the deaths of two Brookhaven Town residents linked to the swine flu. Both people, a man and a woman, had underlying medical conditions.
The man, who was between 35 and 45, had been hospitalized two weeks ago with several medical problems, including pneumonia. He died on June 10. The woman, between 55 and 65, had reported a fever, dry cough, and a sore throat on June 6. She died three days later.
As of Monday there had been 81 confirmed cases in Suffolk County since the pandemic began on April 26.