Dozens of Students Sick at Las Vegas Elementary School
A local year-round elementary school is seeing an elevated number of student absences. More than 100 students from Marion Earl Elementary School have missed school in the past two days, most suffering from flu-like symptoms.
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Tuesday, 151 students were absent from school, many with fevers, coughing and vomiting. Parent Tenille Macedo isn't taking any chances. After hearing of the sick kids at her daughter's school, she decided to keep her second grader home. "I feel pretty pissed off because they haven't given us any warnings before," she said. "I should have kept my student at home way sooner." The school district says it started noticing an increase in flu-like symptoms last week at the school, but on Monday, 105 students were absent. Tuesday the number was 151. Nicole Piccione stopped by Marion Earl to register her daughter for school, but was quickly warned about what was going on inside. She left immediately. "They both have certain medical conditions. She already has breathing problems and so that could have been very hard for my children. They could have ended up in the hospital," she said. The Southern Nevada Health District says it's too soon to jump to any conclusions. They have taken nasal swabs from children which will be tested for influenza, including the H1N1 virus. "If it's H1N1, then we know enough about that strain to know that it behaves just like regular flu and the kinds of recommendations will be the standard ones that you have been hearing about for the last couple of months," said Dr. John Middagh with the SNHD. The health district says so far all cases have been mild. The school district says surfaces are being cleaned and soap and water is provided for children to wash their hands, but parents aren't sure that's good enough. "I'm going to check with the health district itself to make sure they are telling me the truth," said Piccione. A note has gone home to parents warning them of what's going on at the school. The health district is expecting tests results back Wednesday and say their next move is based on what the tests say.