Several schools across the US have shut their doors due to soaring flu infections.
Christian Heritage Academy in Rocky Mount, Virginia, closed its doors Thursday and Friday this week after one in six students were sickened with the flu.
Nearly half of teachers fell ill or had to take care of sick family members, leaving the 300-student private school short-staffed.
Less than 20 miles away, one-third of the 200-student body at Snow Creek Elementary was absent with the flu or flu-like symptoms, according to local news reports.
Meanwhile, the entire West Independent School District in Texas closed its doors Thursday and Friday due to ‘the widespread flu and illness student and staff absentee rate.’
And multiple schools in Oklahoma either closed or went remote after one in four flu tests in the state came back positive.
The influx of closures comes as the US faces a ‘quad-demic’ of winter illnesses – flu, Covid, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and norovirus.
The latest CDC data shows flu activity remains ‘very high’ in 28 states, including those with the school closures, double the amount of the week before.
Multiple public schools across the US have closed their doors due to soaring levels of the flu (stock image)
Your browser does not support iframes.
Experts have suggested that while a surge of illnesses like the flu is common during the winter, the rise could partly be due to declining vaccine rates.
Influenza spreads via droplets that become airborne when someone coughs or sneezes, as well as through contact with contaminated surfaces.
It becomes more prevalent during the winter as colder temperatures force people to spend more time indoors, leading to more people breathing the same air or touching the same surfaces.
Your browser does not support iframes.
About 40million Americans fall ill with the flu every year, and around 36,000 die.
Leadership for Christian Heritage Academy, a 350-student private school for children in kindergarten through high school, said it had to close due to a shortage of teachers and substitutes.
Josh Smallwood, the Head of School at Christian Heritage Academy, told local news: ‘We just could not staff the school for the day.
‘We got a lot of really good substitutes that are faithful, but we do not have that amount of substitutes to cover that amount of teachers and faculty and staff that are out.’
Smallwood said 16 percent of students were absent as of Wednesday, along with 44 percent of staff.
The school is reportedly being cleaned and sanitized while students are out.
West Independent School District in West, Texas – 70 miles outside of Dallas – announced Wednesday all schools in the district would close Thursday and Friday.
The announcement on Facebook said: ‘Please use this time to get well, rest, and recover in order for a safe and successful return to school on Monday, February 3, 2025.’
According to The Oklahoman, at least five districts in Oklahoma have moved to remote learning due to the spread of flu.
Lindsay Public Schools said in a Facebook post it would implement remote learning Tuesday and Wednesday ‘due to a large number of students and faculty out sick.’
About 70 miles away, Piedmont’s public schools warned of ‘a significant increase in illness among staff, substitute teachers, bus drivers, and students’ before closing Thursday and Friday.
The above screenshot shows an announcement from West Independent School District in Texas about school closures due to the flu
Your browser does not support iframes.
According to CDC data for the week of January 25, the latest available, flu positivity rates have increased 30 percent of flu tests have come back positive, up from 25 percent the week before.
The hospitalization rate also increased from 41 per 100,000 people the week of January 18 to 52 per 100,000 the week of January 25.
Additionally, 38,255 Americans were hospitalized with the flu compared to 31,234 the week before.
There were also 16 flu-related deaths in children that week, bringing the season total to 47.
About 16million Americans have become ill and 8,300 have died so far this season.
The CDC also measures viral activity based on the percentage of emergency room visits for these conditions. Levels in each state are compared to the national average to determine if they are ‘minimal,’ ‘low,’ ‘moderate,’ ‘high,’ or ‘very high.’
The higher the designation, the faster the illness is spreading in an area.
For the week of January 25, 28 states had ‘very high’ levels of flu activity, including Texas, Virginia, and Oklahoma.
Wyoming was the only state with ‘low’ levels, and just Montana, Alaska, and West Virginia had ‘minimal’ levels.
Treatment for the flu includes rest, fluids, and antiviral medications and oxygen therapy in severe cases.
