Northeast Pennsylvania has some of the highest respiratory illness rates in the Commonwealth this season, as Lackawanna Trail School District superintendent Matt Rakauskas knows all too well.
Widespread infections prompted the district in Wyoming County to close its physical doors for an entire day last month and go virtual to manage the spread as absentee numbers spiraled.
“There weren't teachers in the classrooms,” Rakauskas said. “There weren't enough kids that they could do the larger lessons."
The state's flu season, which started on Sept. 29, 2024, has been particularly bad this year.
According to data last updated on Feb. 8, flu cases in Pennsylvania were up to 27,442, compared to 9,802 cases by this time last flu season. RSV cases are lower this year compared to last year, however.
But infection rates Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, for example, have surpassed those in some of the state’s largest counties, including Philadelphia and Allegheny, and officials can't say what is causing the spike here.
“There is no specific reason to indicate why influenza rates are higher in the Northeast region of the state compared to other regions of Pennsylvania,” state Department of Health spokesman Mark O’Neill said.
What officials do know is that flu infections are rising across the country, according to the CDC, and vaccinations are down nationally compared to previous years’ flu seasons.
This year, 145.92 million flu doses had been distributed by Jan. 18 compared to 156.42 million distributed by the same time last flu season. That’s down from more than 170 million doses distributed by the same time in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 flu seasons.
‘Flatten that curve’
During the week of Jan. 13, absenteeism at Lackawanna Trail was climbing, Rakauskas said, and the number of teachers out sick made it difficult to manage the remaining students.
Wyoming County has an influenza infection rate of 1,156.20/ 100,000 people. Its RSV infection rate is 599.20/ 100,000 people. The flu rate is in the second highest category for infection rates, while the RSV rate is in the highest category.
By Thursday of that week, Rakauskas checked in with Laura Evans, the district’s head nurse stationed at the high school. Together, they determined that illness was causing the consistent absenteeism, and they decided to use a flexible instruction day on Friday, Jan. 17, ahead of a three-day weekend for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday.
"So it really hit at the right time, and we made the move to go virtual and again, try to flatten that curve at the right time,” Rakauskas said.
While Evans does not diagnose students, she believes many of them caught Flu A, which has symptoms similar to any common cold.
“I think some of the reason it spread as quickly as it did is because those symptoms were a little bit vague, like traditional of winter illness to begin with,” she said. “I think they were less apt to stay home feeling that way.”
Evans believes a mix of respiratory viruses went around the school’s population.
“Kids would be out for a couple days and then bounce back, and then they'd be out for another couple days with something different,” Evans said. “I can't, in full confidence, say it was all flu. I think it was several different things that were going on at the same time.”
The school’s surge of illness in January was the worst she’s experienced during her career as a school nurse.
“These were abnormal numbers for us, even during winter sickness time,” she said.
Prioritizing health, not attendance awards
This was the first time Rakauskas used a flexible instruction day for a reason other than winter weather. However, he received positive feedback from parents and staff and saw near normal attendance levels the following week. Attendance has remained steady since then.
“It was a great recommendation, to lead into that three-day weekend, and hopefully keep people away from each other a little bit more, a little bit less breathing on each other,” Rakauskas said.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the school district gave perfect and excellent attendance awards to graduating seniors. Rakauskas has since gotten rid of attendance awards, and he thinks it helps with the school’s messaging on protecting the community from the spread of illness.
“We would give out attendance awards for excellent attendance. We stopped doing that, and although that was a COVID-era concept, we continue it now. We don't discourage kids from coming to school if they have [a] sniffle, but if there were any of those symptoms that we think might lead to something more, we're more likely to encourage them to stay home, to get better for themselves and for the community,” he said.
Evans is proud of the district’s response to rising infections and absenteeism.
“We now have just another tool on how we would be prepared to handle that in the future,” she said. “We cannot completely prevent any situation like this. But we just always want to work towards handling the best way we can, and we think we did that this year.”
Staying safe during sick season
As a school nurse, Evans sees social events and sports as virus spreaders.
“The biggest thing we see is the sharing of the water bottles, the sleepovers. We do teachings especially within sport teams, but within the classroom on discouraging [sharing water bottles], and obviously the hand washing, the cleaning of the surface before you sit down,” she said.
These trainings and protocols are consistent with Pennsylvania’s Department of Health (DOH) recommendations for minimizing the spread of viruses within a school setting.
The DOH does not typically recommend school closures for a respiratory outbreak, but Lackawanna Trail believes it made the best decision for its students and families.
“We just transitioned into a different delivery of education for that day, and I think we were more apt to use that because it was beneficial on several levels,” Evans said. “The kids weren't going to be denied an education for the day.”
The Department of Health said people should be diligent about hand washing and disinfecting as we enter the peak of flu season.
“Higher flu cases this time of year are a normal, annual occurrence as people spend more time indoors,” DOH spokesman O'Neill told WVIA in a statement. “Historically, February is generally when the peak of influenza activity occurs in a season.”
While the DOH does not have any indication of if the spread of flu and other respiratory viruses will slow down anytime soon, they gave recommendations to stay healthy and prevent others from getting sick.
“The Health Department recommends that Pennsylvanians stay updated with their annual flu vaccination and continue fundamental health and hygiene practices, like handwashing, staying home when sick, and avoiding contact with people who have suspected or confirmed respiratory illness,” O’Neill said.
Lackawanna Trail tries to be proactive about getting community members vaccinated. Every October, they invite a local pharmacy to distribute flu vaccines at that month’s staff meeting. They also circulate information about local vaccine clinics and pop-ups for students and their families.
“It's enough that we keep it going year after year,” Evans said. “We do get a pretty good amount between the high school and the elementary school that participate in it.”
