That you support your school getting washable and disinfectable keyboards and mice.

With flu season upon us, the time is now to take action and stay healthy. Be proactive! Wash your hands and your keyboard often.

Help keep your kids healthy this flu season by asking your school to do all they can to keep the students healthy. This can be to implement routine hand washing, keeping hand sanitizer in the classroom or by purchasing washable keyboards and mice for the computer lab.

We are all in this together. Let’s try to keep ourselves, our family and our friends as healthy as possible this flu season.

H1N1 Brings Early Flu Season to

 Colleges, Public Schools

Thursday, September 17, 2009
By Marrecca Fiore

Public schools and colleges are seeing an early and robust flu season thanks to the H1N1 virus, although some are scratching their heads as to why it’s not as widespread as health officials predicted it would be.

And so far, it appears to be far less deadly than its well-known cousin, the seasonal flu that comes every fall and winter and kills tens of thousands of people in America every year.

“There’s no doubt the flu has gotten off to a fast and early start,” said Tom Skinner, spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It is very unusual to see the amount of cases we’re seeing this time of year. It’s a long season and some campuses are being hit hard.”

Dozens of public schools across the country have reported both confirmed and suspected cases of H1N1. A Houston-area charter school with 200 students closed Wednesday to “disinfect” after a student tested positive for the virus. A high school in Kentucky canceled its Friday night football game on Wednesday after a player was confirmed to have the virus and several other players exhibited flu-like symptoms.

Meanwhile, colleges and universities across the country are reporting thousands of suspected swine flu cases.

Two weeks ago, a 22-year-old student from the University of Nebraska-Omaha died from suspected H1N1 just before starting classes there.

Still, only 600 Americans have died from the new H1N1 virus, a low number when compared to the 30,000 to 40,000 people who die annually from seasonal flu. Skinner said that could be due to whom H1N1 is targeting.

The very young, very old and people with weakened immune systems are most at risk of contracting and dying from the seasonal flu. But a different group is most susceptible to the H1N1 virus.

“H1n1 is hitting a larger population of teenagers and young adults, people with robust immune systems, so we might not see the number of hospitalizations and deaths that we see with the seasonal flu,” Skinner said. “That’s kind of how things are shaping up early on, but it’s still too early to draw any definitive conclusions on how it will ultimately affect people.”

Colleges See Early Flu Outbreak

The American College Health Association reported that as of this past Monday, 83 percent of the 253 colleges and universities that the organization tracks reported influenza-like illnesses, up from 72 percent the week before. The organization tracked a total of 6,432 cases and 16 hospitalizations over the past week, according to its Web site.

The nationwide attack rate last week was 21.5 cases per 10,000 college students, 20 percent higher than week before. The most cases were reported in the Northwest, with considerable activity also occurring in the Southeast, according to the college health association.

Skinner said the flu’s unpredictability is one reason why H1N1 is hitting some regions harder than others.

“There’s no rhyme or reason as to how it spreads and when it hits a particular region,” he said. “Last week, we, in Georgia, saw a lot of activity at colleges with some areas being hit harder than others.”

Although some regions have yet to see upswing in flu cases, Skinner warned people not to become complacent.

“Even if an area is not being hit hard now, our message continues to be that we want to make sure that those in high-risk groups get vaccinated,” he said.

________________________________________________________________

Well, there is no doubt that flu season is upon us. Do all you can for you and your family’s health and invest in a washable keyboard and mouse from Wetkeys.com. These items are sanitary and heavy duty, low-cost and high-quality. Typical keyboards harbor disease-causing germs and bacteria, but with Wetkeys keyboards, there is nowhere for them to hide!  

By Jeff Nagel – Richmond Review.com

Published: August 24, 2009 2:00 PM
Updated: August 24, 2009 2:59 PM

Posted: Monday, August 24, 2009 11:42 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: White House

From NBC’s Winston Wilde
Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged there is a significant chance of school disruptions in the upcoming flu season, due to H1N1 “swine flu.”

At a press conference this morning in front of H.D. Cooke Elementary School, Duncan said, “Some schools may experience large absentee rates; some across the country may even need to be closed temporarily at some point during the school year. We must make sure that learning continues if the virus spreads. That is hugely important.”

He added that the goal for schools nationwide is “to keep our children safe and keep our children learning.”

The Department of Education released instructions to schools today on how to be ready for any possible disruption due to H1N1, including having homework packages ready for students while they must stay home, having online resources accessible from the home (Apple and Microsoft representatives were present at the school, according to Duncan), and maintaining close contact with parents, so they can keep their kids up to speed on curricula.

The H1N1 vaccine will be ready by mid-October. Once available, kids will be one of the “priority populations,” and both the Department of Education and HHS are reaching out to schools to make sure parents remember to make vaccinations a priority.

While the H1N1 vaccine is still in its testing phases, Sebelius emphasized mitigation strategies, like remembering to wash hands, coughing into shirtsleeves instead of coughing into a hand or worse yet, not covering a mouth, and to stay home – students and teachers alike – if they develop flu symptoms.

HHS  distributed to elementary school s its “Avoid the Flu” resource kits, and of course, has a flu Web site, with guidance for K-12, colleges and  universities, and businesses.

After the press conference, Sebelius and Duncan toured the school to see its health facilities and green initiatives  and ate a breakfast with the  children in the cafeteria.

________________________________________________________________

Do everything you can for your family by purchasing washable keyboards for them at wetkeys.com. These heavy duty, sanitary keyboards are easy to clean and help prevent the spread of harmful germs and bacteria.

________________________________________________________________

Do yourself and your family a favor and purchase washable, durable, waterproof keyboards and mice at wetkeys.com today.  These items help keep your family healthy!  

According top NBC news in the Dallas/Fort Worth area plans are beginning to handle a potential Swine Flu outbreak.

The first day of school is more than a month away, but schools in Fort Worth are already thinking about how handle another swine flu outbreak.