# INTO seeks swine flu reassurances



## Romulan (19 Aug 2009)

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0819/swineflu.html

Welcome to Planet INTO

_"The INTO says it will be seeking reassurance that clear advice and guidance will be provided to all schools to ensure the threat from the virus can be properly managed."_

Perhaps they missed all the advice and guidance when they were on holidays.

_"Mr Carr also said the INTO hopes that when a vaccine programme begins that teachers will be given priority."_

If there is an INTO vaccine, I'd like to be given priority.


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## lou2 (19 Aug 2009)

I have no affiliation to the INTO at all but I don't think it's an unreasonable request that clear advice and guidance be given specifically with regard to preventing/managing the virus in the school setting. Schools (over-crowded classrooms etc) are absolute breeding grounds for viruses so it would make sense that they are one area that should be prioritised. I have no problem with teachers getting priority for the vaccine (after at-risk groups and health care workers of course).


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## Phibbleberry (19 Aug 2009)

lou2 said:


> i have no affiliation to the into at all but i don't think it's an unreasonable request that clear advice and guidance be given specifically with regard to preventing/managing the virus in the school setting. Schools (over-crowded classrooms etc) are absolute breeding grounds for viruses so it would make sense that they are one area that should be prioritised. I have no problem with teachers getting priority for the vaccine (after at-risk groups and health care workers of course).


 
+1


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## Mpsox (19 Aug 2009)

lou2 said:


> I have no affiliation to the INTO at all but I don't think it's an unreasonable request that clear advice and guidance be given specifically with regard to preventing/managing the virus in the school setting. Schools (over-crowded classrooms etc) are absolute breeding grounds for viruses so it would make sense that they are one area that should be prioritised. I have no problem with teachers getting priority for the vaccine (after at-risk groups and health care workers of course).


 
I'd agree with most of what you are saying here and the sentiment behind it. Teachers seemingly are going to be given guidance as to what to train the children in, ( eg sneeze and throw away the tissue)

However what annoyed me this morning was the headmaster on the radio(who just happened to be a FG counciler) asking for guidance if a pupil turned up showing symptons of swine flu. To me, that is a common sense process, if any child turns up with any flu symptoms, ring the parent and send them home.


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## ninsaga (19 Aug 2009)

Agree with this also. In typical working environments most people are not in close proximity to others - not as much as in the classrooms.

In reality, closing schools will be a big problem ie. for working parents having to stay home as a result. Would be a mess.


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## csirl (19 Aug 2009)

This is all being blown out of proportion. The swine flu is no more dangerous that any of the other flus which circulate annually. The reason that this flu has caught the imagination is that it is only the second flu in known history to have originated outside southern China - and the other one was decades ago. As such, they know the source and have more visibility on deaths at the source - information that the Chinese never make public. 

What people forget is that a percentage of people who get any flu will die, even those with no underlying medical problems. Thats the way with most diseases - not everyone recovers. Most flu's have a death rate of 100,000s if not millions worldwide when you include those with other medical conditions. Thankfully the death rate with this flu and most others is very very low for those in good health. 

Unfortunately the mis-informed media have got their teeth into swine flu and using it as a lazy way to fill time/space on TV/in newspapers. As with most panics, we also have the opportunists who are trying to make money out of it or those who want to use it as an excuse not to work etc.


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## Romulan (19 Aug 2009)

I just find it depressing, looking to the minister/dept. for reassurance.  Doing nothing while giving the appearance of doing something.

Why can INTO not set up a project group/working group to draft their own guidelines/plans taking into account all the information that is already available.

Set up a section in the INTO website and get the plan/guidelines out to teachers.

DO SOMETHING.

And why the assumption that a vaccine is the best choice?


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## thedaras (31 Aug 2009)

My local boys school is closing tommorow and possibly the next day,having just opened today..

Reason; The taps are not working..

After a long long summer ,the day the school opens it sends notes home to the parents to say ,it will close for the next possibly two days.Now theres reassurance for you...

So there you are ,if you want a few days off work, do damage to the tap.Hey presto.


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## Complainer (1 Sep 2009)

Romulan said:


> Why can INTO not set up a project group/working group to draft their own guidelines/plans taking into account all the information that is already available.


Possibly because they don't have a pile of public health experts sitting around in their offices waiting for something to do. Teachers/principals/union reps aren't experts in infection control.


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## Purple (1 Sep 2009)

csirl, +1


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## redstar (1 Sep 2009)

csirl is right. 
About 400 people die in Ireland every year from the seasonal influenza, even though the annual vaccine is available.
The media have highlighted TWO deaths so far, as if it was the coming of the Black Death. Just like other flu outbreaks, there will (unfortunately) be a lot more deaths this coming winter. Will the media report EACH ONE ?


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## Kine (1 Sep 2009)

If I get Swine Flu and die, I'm coming back here to haunt these forums.

I'm sure the teachers can create a few more management positions to bump their salaries


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## Ash 22 (1 Sep 2009)

thedaras said:


> My local boys school is closing tommorow and possibly the next day,having just opened today..
> 
> Reason; The taps are not working..
> 
> ...


 
Well if the taps are not working the children cannot wash their hands and if any of these pupils contact swine flu and parents hear the taps were not working the poor teachers will come in for a right old bashing again.


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## Ceist Beag (2 Sep 2009)

Ash 22 said:


> Well if the taps are not working the children cannot wash their hands and if any of these pupils contact swine flu and parents hear the taps were not working the poor teachers will come in for a right old bashing again.



Here's a suggestion Ash, would it not have been prudent of the school principal to make sure the school was ready for the first day back by checking all these things in advance? It's unacceptable for a school to close the day after it opens for something as obvious as taps not working.
Agree with csirl too.


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## Purple (2 Sep 2009)

ceist beag said:


> here's a suggestion ash, would it not have been prudent of the school principal to make sure the school was ready for the first day back by checking all these things in advance? It's unacceptable for a school to close the day after it opens for something as obvious as taps not working.
> Agree with csirl too.


 +1


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## Ash 22 (2 Sep 2009)

Yes certainly it would have been great if the Principal had checked the taps in advance but I suppose checking a tap is something that you would'nt think of doing unless there had been a problem with it prior to that.


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## macnas (2 Sep 2009)

No matter how many checks a Principal can do, some problems will not manifest themselves until all the kids are back in school. Most problems will be dealt with there and then but if there is a serious problem such as plumbing, the welfare of the students dictates the action that is required. The DOE and the Board of Management must give permission to a school to close?

As for the INTO giving advice on swine flu, if they did then some gabdaw would come here and say what business have the INTO giving advice on medical matters. Some gabdaw has come out against teachers getting some priority on vaccine programs. The classroom is the best place to get the message across to kids/ families how to cope with the flu. In a classroom situation the swine-flu would spread rapidly. It does affect younger people more than older people.



MPSOX you assume that if a Principal has to ring a pupils home that 
1. they have a phone
2. there is someone there
3. they can come to collect the child
4. they give a damn


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## thedaras (3 Sep 2009)

Ash 22 said:


> Yes certainly it would have been great if the Principal had checked the taps in advance but I suppose checking a tap is something that you would'nt think of doing unless there had been a problem with it prior to that.


 
 Yeh, Imagine the Principal thinking of checking things like the taps when there is a swine flu issue.Now thats mad...


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## Complainer (4 Sep 2009)

thedaras said:


> Yeh, Imagine the Principal thinking of checking things like the taps when there is a swine flu issue.Now thats mad...


When was the last time you checked all the taps in your workplace?


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## Purple (4 Sep 2009)

Complainer said:


> When was the last time you checked all the taps in your workplace?



thedaras, when was the last time your workplace was closed for over two months?


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## Mpsox (4 Sep 2009)

macnas said:


> MPSOX you assume that if a Principal has to ring a pupils home that
> 1. they have a phone
> 2. there is someone there
> 3. they can come to collect the child
> 4. they give a damn


 
I've no doubt that there may be occassions when a parent may be uncontactable, but if the parent doesn't give a damm or deems something else to be more important then the welfare of their child, then the next call should be to social services or the Gardai reporting a child in danger.


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## Mpsox (4 Sep 2009)

Complainer said:


> When was the last time you checked all the taps in your workplace?


 
friend of mine is a headmaster, he was in the school 2 weeks before it opened making sure everything was working fine and organising repairs for anything that needed repairing/changing bulbs etc. Why the heck can't the rest of them do that?


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## Complainer (4 Sep 2009)

Mpsox said:


> friend of mine is a headmaster, he was in the school 2 weeks before it opened making sure everything was working fine and organising repairs for anything that needed repairing/changing bulbs etc. Why the heck can't the rest of them do that?



Sounds like most teachers/headmasters that I know. Did you ask your friend if he checked every tap in his building?


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## Purple (4 Sep 2009)

Complainer said:


> Sounds like most teachers/headmasters that I know. Did you ask your friend if he checked every tap in his building?



He'd only have to had checked one.


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## Marion (4 Sep 2009)

Originally Posted by *Complainer* http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=926297#post926297 
_Sounds like most teachers/headmasters that I know. Did you ask your friend if he checked every tap in his building?_

*Posted by Purple: *

_He'd only have to had checked one. _


Many schools are 2-story.

Marion


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## ericsson (4 Sep 2009)

Grrrrrrrrrrrr. If there was a problem with the taps or water supply it's clearly in the interest of hygiene that a school would have to close. Just think of the amount of people in a school and the close contact which they have with each other. Straight forward. I think too many people look at schools as a means of 'babysitting' anyway. And as for the two months holidays? Why didn't you become teachers if its so great! 

(Im stirring my cauldron as I type!)


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