Schools across the Kingdom reported no confirmed cases of swine flu with the beginning of the new school year Saturday, heeding the government's call for extreme caution against the deadly flu. Students were received with face masks, antiseptics, and swine flu leaflets instead of candy amid mixed feelings about the weeks and months ahead. Students and teachers limited their greetings to handshaking with no cheek-kissing, as traditionally known in the Saudi society. Students were told to wash their hands for as long as it takes them to sing “Happy Birthday to You” to themselves. It was hard for some schools, however, to tell if a child had a bad cold or flu — since swine flu and regular flu share the same symptoms. For many schools, a 38-degree Celsius temperature automatically meant keeping the student in the isolation room at the school or simply sending him home. On suspicion of having swine flu, a high temperature of a high school student in Hail placed him in the school isolation room from which he was sent to a hospital for further examination. Remaining on its guard against swine flu, the school tested the student's classmates for high temperature, but no cases were detected. The students were instructed to report any case of high temperature to the school, school principal Fahd Al-Mijlad has said. The students' guardians have complained of the Hail schools' overreaction to swine flu, saying that the teachers were not trained enough to even use the infrared ear thermometers to accurately measure temperature for the long lines of students. Emergency rooms in Hail hospitals received many cases suspected of contracting the swine flu virus from the schools across the city. In Dammam, eight students from the Gulf High School with a cold were placed in the isolation room on suspicion of having swine flu. When examined, the eight were found to have a seasonal cold with normal temperature. Nearly 45 medical teams have been dispatched to visit schools across the Eastern Province for suspected cases of swine flu, said Ahmad Al-Nashim, head of the student health care department in the Eastern Province. In a precautionary measure, Al-Muatasim Intermediate School in Dammam has planned to deliver breakfast meals to the students inside their classrooms to avoid crowding at the school cafeteria, he said. A student in a Jizan high school experienced a high temperature and was taken to a hospital by his brother. It was not swine flu, however, said the school principal. “Students have bought face masks and put them on in a precautionary measure,” the principal added. The school health situation was reassuring in the Makkah region, said Ibrahim Basfar, head of the Makkah Boys' Education Department. “Our 10,000 teachers and health professionals have been well-trained to deal with the pandemic,” he said. No suspected cases were reported in Taif schools which recorded 90 percent attendance rate on the first day of school with an ongoing awareness campaign, said Muhammad Abu Ras, head of the Taif Boy' Education Department. Isolation rooms in Makkah and Taif schools are ready to receive any suspected cases, Basfar and Abu Ras have said. Girls' schools in Taif took off smoothly Saturday, but any girl missing the first day of school would be penalized by deducting from her attendance points, said Salem Al-Zahrani, head of the Taif Girls' Education Department. Qassim schools did not report any suspected cases of swine flu of the 93 percent of students who joined their schools on the first day. Tabuk schools received over 100,000 intermediate and high school students Saturday amid stringent precautionary measures, said Muhammad Al-Luhaidan, head of the Tabuk Education Department. Girls' schools in Tabuk have secured body temperature thermometers and antiseptics. In Al-Baha, no student cases of swine flu were reported and the students health situation was reassuring, said Saeed Mukhayesh, head of the Baha Boy's Education Department. It was a smooth day in Jouf where over 100,000 swine flu leaflets were distributed to the students. Al-Ahsa and Asir schools reported attendance of over 97 percent of students with no suspected cases of swine flu. – Okaz/SG – Saleh Ba-Habri, Ali Al-Ghamdi, Iftikhar Ba-Hafain, Huda Al-Yousef, Salem Al-Subie'i, and Saeed Rafe also contributed to this report __
