A northwest suburban junior high school is warning parents after more than 90 students were reported sick Tuesday morning.
A letter sent to parents Tuesday afternoon from the Principal of Frost Junior High School in Schaumburg reported “an increase in student absenteeism, mostly due to fever, sore throat and cough.”
The Cook County Department of Public Health recommends that children with those symptoms seek medical attention, according to school officials.
“As you may know, flu can easily spread from person to person,” the letter from Principal M. Scott Ross read.
The letter also details preventative measures parents can take to avoid the spread of respiratory illness.
Those measures include:
- Teaching children to wash their hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing.
- Teaching children not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils.
- Teaching children to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues or to cough into their elbows, arms or sleeves when tissues aren’t available.
- Know the signs and symptoms of the flu, including fever, cough, sore throat, a runny or stuff nose, body aches, headache and feeling tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.
- Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or do not have signs of a fever without using fever-reducing drugs.
- Do not send kids to school if they’re sick.
- Get vaccinated.
Earlier this month, an elementary school in Lyons was closed after dozens of students fell ill from what was believed to have been norovirus.
