Northeast Pennsylvania has some of the highest respiratory illness rates in the Commonwealth this season, as Lackawanna Trail School District Superintendent Matt Rakauskas is well aware.
Widespread infections prompted Wyoming County’s school district to close its physical doors for an entire day last month and go virtual to control the spread as absenteeism skyrocketed.
“There weren’t teachers in the classrooms,” Rakauskas explained. “There weren’t enough kids that they could do the larger lessons.”
The state’s flu season, which began on September 29, 2024, has been especially severe this year.
According to data last updated on February 8, flu cases in Pennsylvania had increased to 27,442, up from 9,802 cases at this point last flu season. RSV cases are down this year compared to last, though.
However, infection rates in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties have surpassed those in some of the state’s largest counties, such as Philadelphia and Allegheny, and officials are unsure what is causing the increase.
“There is no specific reason to indicate why influenza rates are higher in the Northeast region of the state compared to other regions of Pennsylvania,” state Department of Health spokesman Mark O’Neill stated.
What officials do know is that flu infections are on the rise across the country, according to the CDC, and vaccination rates are lower than in previous years.
This year, 145.92 million flu doses had been distributed by January 18, compared to 156.42 million at the same point last flu season. This is down from more than 170 million doses distributed at the same time during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 influenza seasons.
‘Flatten that curve’
Absenteeism at Lackawanna Trail increased during the week of January 13, according to Rakauskas, and the number of teachers out sick made it difficult to manage the remaining students.
Wyoming County has a flu infection rate of 1,156.20 per 100,000 people. The RSV infection rate is 599.20 per 100,000 people. The flu rate ranks second highest in terms of infection rates, while the RSV rate ranks first.
By Thursday that week, Rakauskas had checked in with Laura Evans, the district’s head nurse stationed at the high school. They determined that illness was causing the consistent absenteeism, so they scheduled a flexible instruction day on Friday, Jan. 17, ahead of a three-day weekend for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday.
“So it really hit at the right time, and we made the move to go virtual and again, try to flatten that curve at the right time,” Rakauskas told me.
Evans does not diagnose students, but she believes many of them contracted Flu A, which causes symptoms similar to a common cold.
“I think some of the reason it spread as quickly as it did is because those symptoms were a little bit vague, like traditional of winter illness to begin with,” she told me. “I think they were less apt to stay home feeling that way.”
Evans believes a variety of respiratory viruses spread throughout the school’s population.
“Kids would be out for a couple days and then bounce back, and then they’d be out for another couple days with something different,” Evans told me. “I can’t confidently say it was all flu. “I believe there were several things going on at the same time.”
The school’s surge of illness in January was the worst she’d seen in her career as a school nurse.
“These were abnormal numbers for us, even during winter sickness time,” she told me.
Prioritizing health, not attendance awards
This was the first time Rakauskas had a flexible instruction day for reasons other than winter weather. However, he received positive feedback from parents and staff, and attendance levels were close to normal the following week. Attendance has remained stable since then.
“It was a great recommendation, to lead into that three-day weekend, and hopefully keep people away from each other a little bit more, a little bit less breathing on each other,” Rakauskas told reporters.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the school district presented perfect and excellent attendance awards to graduating seniors. Rakauskas has since eliminated attendance awards, which he believes aligns with the school’s messaging about protecting the community from the spread of illness.
“We would give out attendance awards for outstanding attendance. We stopped doing that, and even though it was a COVID-era concept, we continue to do it today. We don’t discourage kids from coming to school if they have a sniffle, but if any of those symptoms suggest something more serious, we’re more likely to encourage them to stay home and get better for themselves and the community,” he said.
Evans is proud of the district’s response to rising infection rates and absenteeism.
“We now have just another tool on how we would be prepared to handle that in the future,” according to her. “We cannot completely prevent a situation like this. But we always want to do the best we can, and we believe we did so this year.”
Staying safe during sick season
Evans, a school nurse, believes that social events and sports spread viruses.
“The most common thing we see is people sharing water bottles and having sleepovers. We teach, particularly in sports teams, but also in the classroom, about discouraging [sharing water bottles] and, of course, hand washing and surface cleaning before sitting down,” she said.
These trainings and protocols are consistent with the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s (DOH) recommendations for preventing virus spread in schools.
The DOH does not usually recommend school closures during a respiratory outbreak, but Lackawanna Trail believes it made the best decision for its students and families.
“We just transitioned into a different delivery of education for that day, and I think we were more apt to use that because it was beneficial on several levels,” Evans told me. “The kids weren’t going to be denied an education for the day.”
As flu season approaches, the Department of Health advises people to practice good hand hygiene and disinfection.
“Higher flu cases at this time of year are a normal, annual occurrence as people spend more time indoors,” DOH spokesman O’Neill told WVIA. “Historically, February is generally when the peak of influenza activity occurs in a season.”
While the DOH has no indication that the spread of flu and other respiratory viruses will slow down anytime soon, they have issued recommendations to stay healthy and keep others from becoming ill.
“The Health Department recommends that Pennsylvanians stay updated with their annual flu vaccination and continue fundamental health and hygiene practices, like handwashing, staying home when sick, and avoiding contact with people who have suspected or confirmed respiratory illness,” O’Neill told the crowd.
Lackawanna Trail tries to be proactive in getting community members vaccinated. Every October, they invite a local pharmacy to distribute flu vaccines at the monthly staff meeting. They also share information about local vaccine clinics and pop-ups with students and their families.
“It’s enough that we keep it going year after year,” Evans told me. “We do get a pretty good amount between the high school and the elementary school that participate in it.”
