Increase in RSV cases affecting young students across Southern Colorado school districts
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A rise in Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections among children is now prompting some Southern Colorado schools to cancel classes.
The El Paso County Health Department (EPCHD) said it's seeing a rise in school RSV outbreaks this year. An outbreak is when two or more people from a similar group are infected with the virus at the same time.
The EPCHD told KRDO it's monitoring 54 active RSV outbreaks as of Dec. 7. All of those outbreaks are in schools and at childcare facilities.
"We had a conversation with our school nurses about RSV and they have seen a few cases popping up more so than in years past, "said Public Information Officer for Colorado Springs District 11 Devra Ashby.
According to Ashby, most of the district's RSV cases are in younger students.
"So with preschool students, we are having more hand-washing times built into their schedules, more talks about hygiene and how to take care of your bodies," said Ashby.
Pueblo County School District 70 is in a similar situation. District officials told KRDO they've canceled preschool classes for Thursday, December 8, because of the number of kids infected with RSV.
"Today (Wednesday) we have been notified that we do have two classes that will be canceled tomorrow in our pre-k subgroup," said Public Information Officer for District 70 Lynnette Bonfiglio
Faculty and staff from Districts 70 and 11 say they're prepared to switch teaching methods if it gets worse. However, the districts say they would resort to virtual learning if they don't have enough staff to teach students.
"Depending on how quickly that would happen to escalate our first response would be to close those classrooms for that 72-hour time to kind of blanket those kids from any further exposure," said Bonfiglio.
Both districts told KRDO they are more prepared to switch to a virtual learning method because of the pandemic. They are also sending home academic packets to kids who are sick to make sure they don't fall behind.
