Class is out early for one Kansas school this holiday season.
Dexter Schools USD #471 announced Monday that they dismissed students and staff three days early for winter break due to widespread illness. Classes are scheduled to resume Monday, Jan. 5.
"We are going through a tremendous amount of sickness right now and it seems to be spreading at a very high rate," the Facebook announcement reads, in part.
"Not only are we concerned with student and staff sickness now we don't want to continue to spread the sickness and end up with students taking it to their extended families (grandma and grandpa) over the holiday break," the post adds.
FDA expands approval of Moderna's RSV vaccine to some adults under age 60
K.B. Criss, the school's superintendent and principal, told ABC News that the rural K-12 school has between 250 and 300 students, and he believed around 25% to 35% of students were absent within the first hour of school Monday morning.
"The phone was ringing off the wall of kids being sick," he said. "I think by nine o'clock, we had between 40 and 50 families call, and that's a large percent of our student body."
Criss added that most of the illnesses seemed to be respiratory, but staff and students were experiencing a wide variety of symptoms.
"The symptoms were ranging from all over the place. We had staff that was not only throwing up, but had diarrhea. We had body aches, fevers, bronchitis, strep throat, and the one common thing with all of it was terrible headaches," Criss said, adding that other leading symptoms included congestion, coughs, and fever.
Some students and staff were diagnosed with RSV and the flu, according to Criss.
According to the school's website, free testing is available for Flu A/B, RSV, Strep A and COVID.
Kansas currently has a low level of respiratory illness across the state, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationally, "the amount of acute respiratory illness causing people to seek health care is low," according to the CDC, as is COVID-19 activity.
"Seasonal influenza activity continues to increase in most areas of the country," according to the CDC, while RSV activity is increasing "in many Southeastern, Southern, and mid-Atlantic states."
Dexter Schools USD #471 is located about 70 miles southeast of Wichita, near the Oklahoma border.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Google's proposed data center in orbit will face issues with space debris in an already crowded orbit - 2An Investigate of 6 Creative Specialty Mixed drinks
- 3Kiev declares energy emergency after Russian attacks amid winter cold
- 4Deadly Switzerland ski resort fire was likely started by sparklers attached to champagne bottles, officials say
- 5Strengthening through Wellness: Individual Preparation Achievement
- Australia PM tries to reassure public as panic buying sees fuel demand surge 400% in some regions
- Spain breaks jobs record with 22 million Social Security contributors
- Twins were the norm for our ancient primate ancestors − one baby at a time had evolutionary advantages
- Four countries to boycott Eurovision 2026 over Israel’s inclusion
- Manual for Purchasing a Modest Jeep Wrangler for Seniors
- Potential Houthi threat to Red Sea shipping could further damage global economy
- Two die and thousands homeless after flooding hits Russia's Dagestan
- I spent the last year transforming my life. Becoming a Rockette for a day made me confront a fear I couldn't shake.
- REWE launches seventh Pick&Go test store in Hanover
