U.S. discourages quick school closure for swine flu

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. guidelines for the pandemic of H1N1 swine flu released on Friday discourage the early closure of schools, unless the virus becomes worse.

But patients who get sick, including children, can return to school or work 24 hours after their fever breaks, instead of the full seven days previously recommended.

"We know from the spring that where there was H1N1 there were very large explosive outbreaks in schools," Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news conference. But he said experts had also learned more about the way H1N1 spreads.

"We know now that closing schools is not the best option in most cases," said Frieden, who was New York City Health Commissioner until June. He said as many as 800,000 people were infected in New York alone at the peak of the outbreak there.

"We can't stop the tide of flu from coming in, but we can help reduce the number of people who become ill with it."

If the virus starts to spread faster when school starts, officials should try other means to slow it, such as keeping students more widely separated and stressing hand hygiene, the guidelines recommend.

The benefits of closing schools are outweighed by social costs such as unsupervised children, health workers stuck at home to care for children, missed meals and missed education, according to the guidelines, available at www.flu.gov.

Schools for pregnant mothers and disabled children are an exception, as such people are at high risk from flu.