H1N1 cases in Oakland County total 513, according to the State of Michigan’s Web site, making up nearly half of the 1077 confirmed and suspected cases in the state.
And at least two of those cases were in Lake Orion Community Schools, according to the district.
As of June 26, there were two deaths in Oakland County resulting from the ‘Swine flu? strain of influenza A, though neither were in Orion.
In fact, the two Lake Orion Community Schools students have recovered completely and moved on to their summer vacation, said school officials.
According to Lake Orion High School Associate Principal Darin Abbasse, the LOHS student was out for 10 days and returned to school with permission from his or her doctor.
‘The student was able to finish the school year with no problem,? Abbasse said.
When the district first learned of swine flu in LOHS, they contacted Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) immediately, according to Abbasse and Superintendent Ken Gutman. The department provided signs for the school to post on entrances alerting the public. LOHS staff scoured areas the student might have contaminated.
‘Before anyone even told us we had to, we sanitized where the student would have been–classrooms, lockers, desks– to make sure there was no spreading,? said Abbasse. ‘We wanted to be more safe than sorry.?
The second case of confirmed H1N1 in the district was at Paint Creek Elementary. After a student there was diagnosed, staff followed similar sanitizing precautions, cleaning the entire building, according to Principal Lauren Sanborn.
‘Our Paint Creek families were informed and kept abreast of the situation,? she said.
According to Superintendent Gutman, there are more unconfirmed cases likely in the district, but schools took every precaution to keep the disease as contained as possible.