Officials investigate flu outbreak at Marion Earl Elementary School

Southern Nevada Health District officials are investigating aninfluenza outbreak that caused 151 students to stay home from Marion Earl Elementary School on Tuesday.

On Monday, 101 students were also absent from the school at 6650 W. Reno Ave., near Jones Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.

Health officials collected test specimens today and expect to know by Wednesday morning if the outbreak is influenza related and what is the particular strain of flu.

"We have no confirmed cases of swine flu at Marion Earl,” said Diana Taylor, the director of health services for the Clark County School District. “We have students with flu-like symptoms.”

There are no plans to close the year-round school, which has an enrollment of 614. It was operating at about half capacity Tuesday, because another fifth of its students were on a regular vacation break.

School officials sent home a letter urging families to take health precautions, such as frequently washing hands, covering their coughs and letting children stay home if sick.

Taylor said “students can return as soon as they’re not showing signs or symptoms. They’re fever free. They’re not coughing any more.”

Some students who were ill on Monday returned to school on Tuesday, she said.

Dr. John Middaugh, the director of community health for the Southern Nevada Health District, said, “We’re very hopeful the symptoms will continue to be mild. We have no reports of severe illness.”

Middaugh said it’s common for a seasonal flu to “cluster in a school or classroom.”

“For this to happen is not unusual or unexpected,” he said. “We don’t really know why this particular school or this particular classroom seemingly got harder hit than some other school. We hope the virus will run its course, the kids will recover and be back at school.”

Since the swine flu scare, Taylor said school officials have been very careful to clean campuses.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.�