RSV

Student absences in Montgomery County have been on the rise as an early surge of flu and respiratory illnesses converged with the spread of covid-19 — in ...

A school in Southern Oregon remained open even after 40 percent of students were out sick, [according to the Medford Mail-Tribune](https://www.mailtribune.com/top-stories/2022/12/19/flu-hitting-local-school-districts-hard/). In the Washington region, the 160,000-student Montgomery County system sent students home with coronavirus tests before the winter break and urged that they test before returning in January. [the Philadelphia Inquirer reported](https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-school-district-masking-mandatory-winter-break-watlington-20221215.html). Today, over 40% of the student population was absent due to illness. 14 due to a high number of absences. Brian Creasman, superintendent of Fleming County Schools in Kentucky, made the tough call to cancel four school days in November after illnesses hit his staff so hard he worried that there were not enough adults to ensure students could be safely supervised. [the state’s public health department](https://cdphe.colorado.gov/flu-rsv). And it has led to spot shortages of children’s medications. Flu season [also arrived about six weeks early](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/10/28/flu-season-2022-cdc/?itid=lk_inline_manual_10) with unusually high numbers of infection in October. And in the days leading up to the closure, there were so many teachers out that many classes had to abandon curriculum. The situation largely impacted smaller districts and was exacerbated by schools also dealing with shortages of teachers and substitutes. Among young people under 18, hospitalizations peaked in mid-November, when the agency reported 18.7 RSV hospitalizations for every 100,000 people,