DMS nurse Kristin Akers works on her computer.
As far as the flu is concerned, things are starting to get better, especially when it comes to absences.
Two weeks ago, Flu Season at Duncan Middle School hit a peak of 115 students absence. This was followed by a weekend, a professional development day and an inclement weather day, all which helped to eliminate the flu from the middle school classrooms.
Last week, the number of flu absences went down to about 60 students. Which is a decline of about 52 percent from the week before.
As of Monday, that number has dropped to 42 students absence.
“To stop yourself from getting sick, you need to wash your hands, don’t drink after people, and be careful about who you’re around,” Sofia Flores, eighth-grade student, said.
For some students, this advice is common sense. Abby Carter, another eighth-grade student, had similar thoughts.
“As long as you keep your hands clean and drink lots of fluids, you should be okay,” Carter said.
Although this year might have had an active flu season, the 115 absences earlier this month, it still doesn’t reach the 150 students who were absent in the spring of 2018. During that semester, school was canceled for a day leading into the weekend to allow teachers to clean as a measure to get the flu virus under control.
While things may be improving as far as absences go, nurse Kirsten Akers said she is still seeing a lot of students throughout the school day.
“I’ve seen around 40 kids just today,” Akers said. “I’ve normally been seeing around 40-50 students for the past couple of weeks.”
However, just because the absences have been down at Duncan Middle School doesn’t mean the confirmed cases have declined, Akers said.
She said that keeping students healthy involves much of what Flores and Carter said. Akers said students should be sure to wash their hands, refrain from eating and drinking after others, and drink plenty of fluids.
