State health officials are investigating an "ongoing outbreak" of influenza cases in recent weeks at two Mililani public schools and strongly urging parents to keep their sick kids at home.
Mililani Middle School started seeing students with flu-like symptoms sometime last month, and the virus has since spread to students at Mililani Ike Elementary.
"It does appear the cluster at Mililani Middle is burning out or has burned out," state Epidemiologist Sarah Park said. "But unfortunately, we’re seeing it spreading to students at (Mililani) Ike, which is likely through siblings."
It’s not clear how many of the middle school’s 1,700 students or the elementary school’s 1,015 students have been affected.
"It’s a fraction of the total (student body) but a large group of them — large enough that it kept burning on and has spread," Park said. "Mililani Middle has three tracks. We’re talking about almost three schools in one. Kids from each of the three tracks came down ill, and multiple grades."
(Multitrack schools like Mililani Middle have special schedules, aimed at coping with overcrowding by having at least one "track," or group of students, on vacation at any given time.)
Mililani Middle Principal Elynne Chung said there was "no way to gauge" the number of students affected at her school. The elementary school’s principal was out of the office Friday.
Letters from both schools sent home to parents late last month described a "high number" of students with flu-like symptoms. A Health Department "fact sheet" on the flu was also sent home.
"We’ve been encouraging parents to be more aware of their child’s health and that it’s best to keep them at home or go to the doctor if they have any flu symptoms," said Donalyn Dela Cruz, spokeswoman for the Department of Education.
Park said test samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to determine the exact flu strain. Results typically take up to two months, she said.
"We don’t know the exact flu strain at this point, but we’re curious, obviously, any time we have a late-season flu cluster like this," Park said. "It’s not unusual to see flu clusters year-round in Hawaii, but this is a little more focused outbreak and ongoing."
The typical flu season runs from October to May in the Northern Hemisphere. Without knowing the strain, it is unclear whether the types at the schools were covered by this season’s flu vaccine.
"Right now for this outbreak, with the testing we do on our level … we can determine whether it’s flu Type A or B," Park said, "but we can’t tell what the strain characterization is. We can’t tell at this point if it’s the vaccine strains or not."
Park said not all sick students were tested for the virus. Some were treated by their regular doctors who did not test for influenza.
"Because not every child was tested, I can’t exclude the possibility of a mix here of flu and another respiratory illness," Park said. "Regardless of what it is, the kids were showing up ill."
She said one student was in class with a 103-degree fever.
"At least from our initial investigation at Mililani Middle, a number of kids essentially had been continuing to go to school sick," Park said. "In early or mid-April we told the DOE to advise parents of the situation. We were strongly advising from the get-go that parents keep their children home if they’re sick.
"As with any kind of infection in a crowded setting, you’re likely to have more cases. Unfortunately, with kids constantly showing up to school like that, it’s been ongoing," she said.
Park speculated the cause was "a few different well-placed children spreading their germs." She said schools are required to report any high number of illnesses to the Department of Health.
Park recommends children and adults get vaccinated as well as have good hygiene habits to protect against the flu. The department’s "Stop Flu at School" program vaccinates students with parental consent for free at the start of each flu season.
For more information about the virus, see flu.hawaii.gov or cdc.gov/flu/index.htm.
