By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
As officials of the Mayor's Office in New Orleans today confirmed that floodwaters in that city are contaminated with e. coli, Texas Health Commissioner Dr. Eduardo Sanchez tried to allay increasing fears of some parents of Texas schoolchildren.
Although U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt Monday declared a public health emergency in Texas, Sanchez said the children evacuees who fled the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast and are enrolling in state public schools present no increased health risk to Texas students who will be in the classrooms with them.
Sanchez called "understandable but unfounded" the concerns of some families regarding the possible health risks to their own children after many of the evacuee children they will be sharing classrooms with had been exposed to the bacteria-laden floodwaters. "Many of these kids were not exposed to floodwater," Sanchez said. "And those who were exposed are being evaluated in the various shelters for types of exposure and monitored for illness symptoms and are getting treatment if they need it. Standard practice says any child, not just evacuees, who's sick should not be sent to school."
Sanchez promoted a common sense approach to the dangers of health problems, urging frequent and thorough hand washing with soap and warm water, especially after visits to the restroom and before eating. The Health Commissioner said the number one threat from exposure to floodwater is tetanus, which is not spread person-to-person. Other flood-related threats are diarrheal illnesses such as shigellosis and salmonellosis. Symptoms of the diarrheal illnesses usually occur within a few days of exposure. None of these illnesses are considered airborne, he said.
Although vaccination records for most of the evacuee children are not available, Sanchez said immunization requirements for students in the Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana schools are similar to those in Texas. "Just because they didn't escape with their shot records, doesn't mean they haven't had their shots. If they were in school in those states, chances are they are immunized," he said. Additionally, said Sanchez, Texas children who have been vaccinated generally will have protection against illnesses such as measles, mumps and chicken pox. Also, with no increased occurrences of illnesses in the affected areas prior to the hurricane, Sanchez said there is "no increased risk here."
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