Schools in ELEVEN states have closed this flu season as experts warn more than 50,000 Americans will die

Saturday, January 27, 2018
By Paul Martin

Schools are closing due to the spread of an aggressive strain of the flu
The strain, known as H3N2, has killed 37 children so far this season
The CDC has said the epidemic will most likely worsen in the coming days
Seven children have died from the flu this week alone

By MIA DE GRAAF
DAILYMAIL.COM
27 January 2018

Schools in 11 states have closed due to the spread of influenza this flu season.

The aggressive H3N2 strain of the virus has killed at least 37 children this season and will likely be responsible for the deaths of more, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It killed seven children this week alone, according to authorities. Additionally, hospitalizations have shot up from 36.9 people out of every 100,000 last week to 41.9 per every 100,000 this week.

The CDC has said it will not have an estimation for the number of deaths caused by the flu until next season.

However experts say more than 50,000 Americans will be dead by the end of this flu season, according to Bloomberg.

The Journal reported that Texas saw 2,355 deaths caused by the flu from October to December.

The H3N2 strain tends to hit children and elderly people the hardest, and the epidemic has led to widespread school closures.

Schools in Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Michigan, Idaho, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida have closed in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

Multiple school officials said this year was the first time they had seen school closures the likes of what is now happening across the US.

Jim Norton is the superintendent of Florida’s Gulf District Schools, which were closed Friday. Norton told the Wall Street Journal: ‘We have taken the steps necessary to act in the best interest of children. We’re going to do a deep cleaning of the schools.’

Gulf District Schools closed following the absence of a fifth of its student population for three days in a row due to flu-like symptoms.

Additionally, Norton said a quarter of the schools’ staff members were absent because they had to care for sick children.

Schools in Melissa, Texas, are going to be closed Monday so that they can be cleaned.

In Duncan, Oklahoma, Duncan Middle School closed Friday, and in Aurora, Illinois, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy stayed closed all of last week.

Gunter Independent School District schools in Texas were closed for one week recently because nearly a third of the district’s students had missed school either because they had flu symptoms or because they wanted to be proactive in avoiding the spread of the illness.

The district’s superintendent, Dr Jill Siler, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘We closed to stop the cycle. We’re talking about almost a third of our population.’

A company was hired to clean the schools that were closed. ‘Every single piece in every single classroom was disinfected,’ Dr Siler said.

But children are not the only ones being affected by the H3N2 strain.

The Rest…HERE

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