Whole School Districts Are Closing Because Of The Flu — Here’s What Parents Need To Know

Multiple school districts in Texas announced that they would be temporarily closing their doors this week amid a surge in illness. But this time it isn’t only the threat of COVID-19 that’s sending students and staff members home.

Flu cases in the area have risen dramatically in recent weeks, as have cases of COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

The Godley Independent School District in Godley, Texas, reported that its attendance was down to between 70% and 80% districtwide. A representative told a local news outlet that there were 650 students out due to flu alone Tuesday, with more leaving throughout the day. A number of staff members, too, were sick.

Impacted schools said that they will use the temporary shutdown to sanitize buildings and buses to prevent further spread of illness.

On the national level, the flu is also surging. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the rate of positive flu tests rose during the week ending Saturday, Jan. 25. There have been 47 pediatric deaths from the flu reported this season, and the CDC estimates a total of 11,000 deaths from at least 20 million flu cases so far.

What are the symptoms of flu in children?

Dr. Janine Zee-Cheng, a pediatrician practicing in Indiana, said that they are currently seeing a lot of flu cases in which patients usually present with a fever.

Other symptoms of flu in children, according to the CDC, include:

• Vomiting and diarrhea (more commonly seen in children than adults).

If your child is a young infant, you should consult with your pediatrician regarding any fever or other signs of illness. Older children do not necessarily need to go in to see a doctor right away.

There are now combination COVID-19/flu rapid tests available over the counter, so you can even test your child for flu at home, if you’d like.

You will need to take a child of any age to see a medical provider if they are having any trouble breathing or staying hydrated. If you are concerned, talk with your child’s pediatrician about how frequently they are drinking and urinating so that the doctor can advise you. A child who is not eating, Zee-Cheng said, is less concerning than one who is not taking in fluids.

There are drugs like Tamiflu that can shorten the duration of illness, but they can also cause side effects like vomiting and diarrhea. Zee-Cheng said they usually don’t prescribe Tamiflu unless a patient is so sick that they may need to be hospitalized. To be effective, the medication should also be administered within 48 hours of the first symptoms appearing, and many patients have already passed this mark by the time they test positive for flu.

If a child has a fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or above for five or more days, Zee-Cheng said, it makes sense to take them to see a doctor, who will likely examine them for signs of pneumonia or ear infection.

The pediatrician noted, however, that “the fevers have definitely been lasting for a long time” during this flu season, and fever doesn’t always mean a child should be rushed to the doctor. Demeanor is also an important indicator. A child who is “really out of it” or “not responding” should see a physician, Zee-Cheng said, regardless of the number on the thermometer, whereas a child with a high fever who is playing normally probably doesn’t need to be seen.

How can we prevent illness?

Luckily, we have a powerful tool in preventing serious illness and deaths caused by influenza: the flu vaccine. If you haven’t gotten yourself or your children vaccinated yet this year, it’s not too late.

The CDC estimates that 44.1% of children ages 6 months to 17 years have been vaccinated this flu season. During the 2023-2024 flu season, an estimated 48.8% of children received flu vaccines. In 2022-2023, that figure was 51.3%.

The percentage of children receiving the flu vaccine has dipped steadily every year since the COVID-19 pandemic, falling from a rate of 62.4% in May of 2020.

One possible explanation for this is an increase in vaccine hesitancy following the pandemic. An Annenberg Public Policy Center survey found that the percentage of people who believe that vaccines approved for use in the U.S. are safe dropped from 77% in 2021 to 71% in 2023.

There is also evidence suggesting that when people are wary of one vaccine, they are more likely to doubt others. One study found that parents who had not received COVID-19 vaccinations were less likely to have their children vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella. Parents who identified as Republican were also less likely to have their children vaccinated for MMR.

When it comes to the flu vaccine, some people hesitate to get the shot because they hear that it is “not a good match” for the flu virus most in circulation now, although Zee-Cheng didn’t put too much stock in this claim, noting that it is made every year. The CDC says that “effectiveness estimates based on real-world vaccine performance” for this season’s shot won’t be available until February, months after the vaccine became available.

The CDC also explains that the flu shot protects against three different influenza viruses, and that multiple viruses circulate during flu season. Though the shot’s effectiveness does vary from one year to the next, people who are vaccinated tend to get less severe illness than those who are not. On average, the CDC states, a flu shot reduces the risk of getting sick by 40% and the risk of hospitalization by 60%. For all of these reasons, the CDC continues to recommend a flu vaccine for everyone ages 6 months and up. (Zee-Cheng noted that babies usually receive two doses, administered four weeks apart.)

Finally, because doctors’ offices often ask families to reschedule flu vaccinations if a child has a fever, some parents put off getting their child vaccinated until they have no signs of illness. But during cold and flu season, it’s not uncommon for kids to have a runny nose or cough for weeks on end.

Symptoms of mild illness shouldn’t prevent you from getting your child vaccinated. It’s safe for your child to receive vaccinations if they have a cold, ear infection, cough, runny nose, low-grade fever or diarrhea. They can receive vaccines while they are taking antibiotics. A vaccine’s effectiveness will not be impacted by your child’s illness, and the shot won’t make their illness worse.

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