Information for Schools

Preventing and Responding to Flu

  • Schools should report when they reach >/= 15% absenteeism, when the majority of them are due to illness. Reporting should occur through NEO
  • Encourage students, parents, and staff to take the time to get a yearly flu vaccine.
  • Those with flu-like illness should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines. They should stay home even if they are using antiviral drugs. If a child comes to school sick, they will be sent home. Please do not send your child to school if they are not feeling well.

  • Report elevated absenteeism or school closure due to illness.

  • School absentee reporting
  • Encourage students, parents, and staff to take basic preventive actions, including covering coughs and washing hands.
  • School staff should routinely clean areas that students and staff touch often with the cleaners they typically use.

School administrators with questions about reporting increased absenteeism, precautions to take, or the ways in which to notify parents about cases of flu in the school, should contact Maine CDC’s Clinical Consultation line at 1-800-821-5821 or e-mail: disease.reporting@maine.gov .

Additional Resources