The Citizen on Monday presented Fayette Schools’ Superintendent Joseph Barrow with this hypothetical scenario: Five children from the Ebola-affected area of West Africa show up to enroll in schools here this week. What would you do? Here is Barrow’s answer:
“As new families go through the registration process at the enrollment/records center, they are being asked if they have traveled to an Ebola-affected area (Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea) in the past 21 days. If so, students will be monitored by the school nurse for Ebola symptoms until the 21-day incubation period has passed,” Barrow said of the current protocol, adding that the school system is very sensitive to this issue and seeks to determine if there a reason for concern.
“At the time of enrollment, we may or may not have accurate information as to where a student may be from based on what they tell us. Technically, if all enrollment requirements are met, we can not deny educational opportunities. However, if a child presents with fever, regardless of where they are from, we ask that the child be picked up by the parent,” Barrow said.
Barrow added that the school system will never knowingly put students and staff in harm’s way. The school system will take all the necessary steps internally and externally, including contacting public health agencies for advice.
It was not hypothetical during the first week of school in early August, when five children from the west Africa region enrolled in Fayette County schools, School system spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach said. None of the five presented any signs of illness or symptoms of the virus-borne Ebola disease during a 21-day monitoring period, she said.
No new students from the disease-stricken area of west Africa have applied for entry to Fayette schools, she said.
The school system today continues to ask if new students have traveled to an Ebola-affected area and, if so, the school system will implement the monitoring protocol established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Berry-Dreisbach said.
All five children went through the enrollment process at the school system’s Welcome Center where they were verified as residing in Fayette County.
Berry-Dreisbach said the school system in August followed the CDC precautionary measures for monitoring.
Four of the children were monitored at school for 21 days, having their temperatures taken at school and were checked for signs of illness.
The remaining child had spent more than 21 days in Germany before arriving in Fayette County and did not undergo the 21-day monitoring because the timeframe for that monitoring had expired, Berry-Dreisbach said.
“We were proactive from the beginning,” Berry-Dreisbach said. “The school system since the beginning of the school year took a precautionary stance and continues to do so today.”
Berry-Dreisbach said the five children were the only ones to enter the school system from affected African countries, adding that there are no children currently being monitored.
Following the protocol set by CDC and the Ga. Dept. of Public Health, anyone presenting symptoms of Ebola at school will be immediately separated from contact with others and the Fayette County Dept. of Public Health will be contacted for guidance, Berry-Dreisbach said.
While there have been no Ebola cases reported in Georgia, Berry-Dreisbach said the Fayette County School System is taking precautionary measures to ensure that its students and staff are protected.
Specific to Ebola, school nurses and staff have been advised of the signs and symptoms of virus, which can appear anywhere from 2-21 days after exposure. They include:fever greater than 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and unexplained, unusual bleeding and bruising, Berry-Dreisbach said.
Barrow on Oct. 20 was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to the Ga. Ebola Response Team which will assess current state health and emergency management procedures and produce necessary recommendations to minimize any potential impact of the disease in Georgia.
Just as healthy germ-stopping habits are stressed during the cold and flu season, the same precautionary measures are being emphasized by the school system as the best prevention against any type of infectious virus, including Ebola, said Berry-Dreisbach.
“Hand washing with soap and water is still the best, most effective, method of protection against the spread of infectious disease. When soap and water is not available, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol is an alternative. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of microbes on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs,” she said.
Berry-Dreisbach said Piedmont Fayette Hospital has donated hand sanitizer stations to each of Fayette County’s public schools.
“All Fayette County schools have a hand sanitizer station located in a centralized area, thanks to a donation earlier this year from Piedmont Fayette Hospital. School clinic personnel are stressing that students and staff practice good hand hygiene to avoid catching any type of communicable disease. Other healthy habits that are regularly promoted to parents and students include staying home when sick, and practicing cough and sneeze etiquette,” Berry-Dreisbach said.
