Multiple Kentucky school districts were forced to cancel classes weeks into the school year after outbreaks of COVID, the flu and strep sent both students and staff home sick — as health officials warn of a possible “tripledemic” this fall.
Even though classes only began Aug. 9 for students in the Lee County School District, Superintendent Earl Ray Schuler noticed a sharp decrease in attendance just a week into the year — when 150 of the district’s nearly 900 students called in sick on Aug. 18.
By the following Monday, the number of absences rose to 157, and 14 staff members also called out of work sick, Scripps News Lexington reported.
The district found that COVID, the flu and strep were the culprits — and canceled classes across all schools both Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Thursday and Friday would go on as remote learning days, and extracurricular activities were canceled for the entire week to allow for cleaning, Schuler said.
“All buildings and buses [are] being sanitized, and all student activities for the remainder of the week were canceled,” Schuler said, adding that school will be back in session on Monday.
Scott Lockard, the public health director for the Kentucky River District noted the region has been seeing an intense uptick in COVID cases.
“In Lee County, the attendance is at that level where they felt they needed to make the call to dismiss classes the rest of the week,” he noted.
About an hour east, schools in Magoffin County also shut down this week due to “widespread illness.”
“We were seeing an uptick of absentees. They were saying COVID, but they were also putting strep throat in there, and there was a virus going around, a stomach virus,” Magoffin County Health Department Director Pete Shepherd told WKYT.
Shepherd said it first began as a combination of illnesses, but now COVID is the main cause of illness in the district, where there were at least 40 confirmed cases this week.
“The last month before school, we hardly gave out any home tests. We started giving them out again, and we can’t get them fast enough to give them out,” Shepherd said.
While the typical flu season starts in October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already started tracking cases — and has warned about a potential “tripledemic,” in which RSV, the flu and COVID variants might spread together hitting this fall.
In addition to the flu virus and the most recent COVID mutant (EG.5 or Eris), health officials have cautioned people about the deadly spread of respiratory syncytial virus.
“RSV results in around 14,000 deaths among older adults annually,” Dr. Eric Cioè-Peña, vice president of global health for Northwell Health, told The Post on Wednesday.
“RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children under 1 year old. It can result in hospitalization and even death in severe cases,” Cioè-Peña added.
“For adults over 65, RSV usually causes moderate cold-like symptoms but can also lead to severe respiratory illness, exacerbated underlying conditions and death.”
There are two FDA-approved vaccines to treat RSV that are now available for adults over the age of 60, one of which is also approved for pregnant women to protect their newborns from RSV.
Along with the latest COVID variant and surges in the flu virus, Cioè-Peña said seeing a “tripledemic” could be possible this fall.
“These vaccines are game-changers,” Cioè-Peña added. “Don’t wait until it’s too late and you are already seriously sick with one of these respiratory viruses to wish that you or your loved one got vaccinated.
