Evaluation of an unplanned school closure in a Colorado school district: implications for pandemic influenza preparedness.

OBJECTIVE: From January 29 through February 5, 2013, a school district outside metropolitan Denver, Colorado, was closed because of absenteeism related to influenza-like illness (ILI) among students and staff. We evaluated the consequences and acceptability of the closure among affected households. METHODS: We conducted a household survey regarding parent or guardian employment and income interruptions, alternative child care arrangements, interruption of noneducational school services, ILI symptoms, student re-congregation, and communication preferences during the closure. RESULTS: Of the 35 (31%) of 113 households surveyed, the majority (28 [80%]) reported that the closure was not challenging. Seven (20%) households reported challenges: 5 (14%) reported that 1 or more adults missed work, 3 (9%) reported lost pay, and 1 (3%) reported challenges because of missed subsidized school meals. The majority (22 [63%]) of households reported that a hypothetical 1-month closure would not represent a problem; 6 of 8 households that did anticipate challenges reported that all adults worked outside the home. The majority (58%) of students visited at least 1 outside venue during the closure. CONCLUSIONS: A brief school closure did not pose a major problem for the majority of the affected households surveyed. School and public health officials should consider the needs of families in which all adults work outside the home when creating school closure contingency plans.

Why is school closed today? Unplanned K-12 school closures in the United States, 2011-2013.

INTRODUCTION: We describe characteristics of unplanned school closures (USCs) in the United States over two consecutive academic years during a non-pandemic period to provide context for implementation of school closures during a pandemic. METHODS: From August 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013, daily systematic internet searches were conducted for publicly announced USCs lasting ≥ 1 day. The reason for closure and the closure dates were recorded. Information on school characteristics was obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics. RESULTS: During the two-year study period, 20,723 USCs were identified affecting 27,066,426 students. Common causes of closure included weather (79%), natural disasters (14%), and problems with school buildings or utilities (4%). Only 771 (4%) USCs lasted ≥ 4 school days. Illness was the cause of 212 (1%) USCs; of these, 126 (59%) were related to respiratory illnesses and showed seasonal variation with peaks in February 2012 and January 2013. CONCLUSIONS: USCs are common events resulting in missed school days for millions of students. Illness causes few USCs compared with weather and natural disasters. Few communities have experience with prolonged closures for illness.

Hepatitis B outbreak associated with a home health care agency serving multiple assisted living facilities in Texas, 2008-2010.

We investigated a multifacility outbreak of acute hepatitis B virus infection involving 21 residents across 10 assisted living facilities in Texas during the period January 2008 through July 2010. Epidemiologic and laboratory data suggested that these infections belonged to a single outbreak. The only common exposure was receipt of assisted monitoring of blood glucose from the same home health care agency. Improved infection control oversight and training of assisted living facility and home health care agency personnel providing assisted monitoring of blood glucose is needed.

Adverse event reports after tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccines in pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to characterize reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) of pregnant women who received tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap). STUDY DESIGN: We searched VAERS for reports of pregnant women who received Tdap from Jan. 1, 2005, through June 30, 2010. We conducted a clinical review of reports and available medical records. RESULTS: We identified 132 reports of Tdap administered to pregnant women; 55 (42%) described no adverse event (AE). No maternal or infant deaths were reported. The most frequent pregnancy-specific AE was spontaneous abortion in 22 (16.7%) reports. Injection site reactions were the most frequent non-pregnancy-specific AE found in 6 (4.5%) reports. One report with a major congenital anomaly (gastroschisis) was identified. CONCLUSION: During a time when Tdap was not routinely recommended in pregnancy, review of reports to VAERS in pregnant women after Tdap did not identify any concerning patterns in maternal, infant, or fetal outcomes.