Health Department: No flu outbreak in SC

ST. CHARLES -- The Kane County Health Department made official Friday what they have been saying unofficially: there was no outbreak of H1N1 flu at St. Charles East High School.

A report issued by the Health Department says while the flu virus is circulating throughout Kane County, less than 10 percent of those students who reported illness on Oct. 19 and 20 actually had flu-like symptoms.

By the end of the day on Oct. 20, a Tuesday, there were more than 900 students who either stayed home with symptoms of illness or were sent home after reporting to the nurse's office during the day. At that point, St. Charles officials decided to close school for the rest of the week.

After investigation by St. Charles East staff and the Health Department, the department concluded that the absenteeism "likely was due to a combination of several different causes of illness in conjunction with non-illness-related absences."

Paul Kuehnert, Health Department executive director, said the reason for the student absences was not swine flu.

The report says that: About 8 percent of students reported flu-like symptoms; about 20 percent reported respiratory illness that was not flu-like; about 22 percent reported gastrointestinal illness; about 50 percent reported a variety of symptoms.

By Friday, of the 1,785 students contacted, 85 percent reported no illness, while 259 reported they would not have attended school if school were in session.