Influenza & Whooping Cough

As we brace for flu and cold season each year and remain concerned about whooping cough and the H1N1 virus ("swine flu"), we ask for every family's cooperation in keeping our community healthy.

Flu, Swine Flu, and Colds

What We Are Doing

  • reminding kids to wash hands frequently (students have also made signs that are posted around the bathrooms to remind each other to wash their hands)
  • reminding kids to cover coughs and sneezes and to use tissues
  • ensuring hand sanitizer is available in every classroom
  • encouraging our faculty/staff to get flu shots
  • asking teachers to work closely with any family whose child must miss an extended period of school due to illness

What You Can Do

***Do not send kids to school if they are sick!

  • If  the School calls you to pick up your sick child, please come as promptly as possible or have a back-up list of available friends or family members. We do not want to keep kids in the sick bay for long periods of time.
  • Keep children home for 24 HOURS after they are fever free (that is, fever free without fever-reducing medications).
  • Notify the Front Office if your child or a family member is diagnosed with H1N1.

For additional information and resources, please check the CDC website. While we cannot avoid seasonal flu and colds, we hope to reduce their spread at RDS. Thank you for your cooperation.

Whooping Cough

California is experiencing an epidemic of whooping cough (pertussis), with more than 7,800 cases confirmed by December 2010 and at least ten deaths of young children. There have been 342 confirmed cases in Alameda County. State and county health officials urge all California residents to get vaccinated against the disease. A new state law requires that all students in 7th through 12th grades in both public and private schools be required to show proof of a recent (non-infant) “Tdap*”  booster shot before starting the 2011-12 school year. Please bear in mind:

  • Whooping cough is often mistaken for a cold or the flu.

  • The disease is at its most contagious before the characteristic cough sets in.

  • Babies are typically inoculated against pertussis at two months, but full protection does not occur until six months. Boosters are recommended in the middle and high school years-- and through adulthood -- as immunity diminishes over time. Please consult your family doctor regarding your own vaccination status, as well as your children's.

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