Counties Surrounding Williamson See Uptick in Illness Causing Schools to Close

The highest number of influenza cases in Tennessee is typically seen in January and February each year and Tennessee is currently among the states with the highest levels of flu activity according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This uptick in illness has caused many Middle Tennessee schools to close. On Monday, Maury, Dickson, Smith and DeKalb County schools were closed.

While students at Maury County Schools are back in school today (Feb 14th), Wilson County Schools are closed for the remainder of the week.

According to a statement from Wilson County Schools, student attendance was above 90% at every school on Friday, with the exception of Lebanon High School, but on Monday, Feb 13th, 138 teachers across the district called in sick, leaving 26 classrooms without a teacher.

Schools Director, Dr. Donna Wright, felt the only solution was to cancel school until these illnesses have had time to run their course, “Obviously, we don’t close school for almost an entire week, unless the situation is very serious. The last thing we want is for this to spread to even more students and staff. Hopefully, these 4 days off, plus the weekend, and the holiday on Monday will give everyone time to recuperate and come back well.”

While Williamson County Schools (WCS) haven’t been affected by illness to the degree that some neighboring counties have, the CDC says it’s not too late to get vaccinated.

Tuesday morning, Superintendent of WCS tweeted that the current absentee rate is not worrisome.

Young children are among those most at risk for serious illness and death from influenza. The Tennessee Department of Health has reports that there have been two influenza-related deaths in Tennessee this year. Tennessee typically sees four to five deaths among children from flu-related complications each year.

flu shot

This year’s flu vaccine is well-matched to the strains of flu that are circulating. Recent studies show flu vaccine reduces the risk of flu illness by about 50 to 60 percent among the overall population during seasons when most circulating flu viruses are like the vaccine viruses. Flu vaccination may make your illness milder if you do get sick, and can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization including among children and older adults. Flu vaccine is currently being offered at no charge to patients at county health departments across the state. To find a county health department near you, visit http://tn.gov/health/topic/localdepartments. Flu vaccine is also widely available across Tennessee from a number of providers including pharmacies, grocery store clinics and primary care providers.

The CDC reminds everyone to practice good health habits like frequent hand washing with soapy water, or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers and cover coughs and sneezes with a sleeve or a tissue to help prevent the spread of the flu.