Mexican Flu Scare Closes 11th Houston Area School

UPDATE
(posted at 12:42 CDT Saturday, May 2, 2009)

The number of schools that have been closed in the Houston area due to the Mexican flu scare has risen to eleven. The below list has been updated:

Klein ISD

Kuehnle Elementary School (added May 2, 2009, 10:44am) closed until May 14 for a probable case in either a student or an adult .

Houston ISD

Lyons Elementary School — closed for at least 14 days after a 10-year student was confirmed to have swine flu. District has not released exact reopening date.

Harvard Elementary School — closed indefinitely after a probable but unconfirmed case of swine flu involving a 9-year-old student.

Hamilton Middle School — closed indefinitely after a probable but unconfirmed case of swine flu involving a 14-year-old student.

Cy-Fair ISD

Yeager Elementary School — closed because of a confirmed cases of swine flu involving a student. The school is expected to reopen May 18.

Humble ISD

Maplebrook Elementary School — closed until May 18 as a child has been diagnosed with a probable case of swine flu.

Katy ISD

Beckendorff Junior High School — closed after a "highly probable" case involving a student. The school is expected to reopen May 11.

Lamar Consolidated ISD

Lamar Junior High School — closed because of a probable case of swine flu. It is expected to reopen on May 11.

Pasadena ISD

Matthys Elementary School — closed because of a suspected case of swine flu involving a student. The school is expected to reopen May 18.

Private schools

Episcopal High School in Bellaire — closed after a student was confirmed to have swine flu. The school is expected to reopen May 14.

Greatwood Montessori School in Sugar Land — closed until at least May 11 because of suspected case of swine flu.

I expect this list to grow during the weekend. I will keep everyone posted as time permits.

"The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day." - Abraham Lincoln

Mexican Flu Closes Ten Houston Area Schools

The number of schools that have been closed in the Houston area due to the Mexican flu scare has risen to ten. The list is below:

Houston ISD

Lyons Elementary School — closed for at least 14 days after a 10-year student was confirmed to have swine flu. District has not released exact reopening date.

Harvard Elementary School — closed indefinitely after a probable but unconfirmed case of swine flu involving a 9-year-old student.

Hamilton Middle School — closed indefinitely after a probable but unconfirmed case of swine flu involving a 14-year-old student.

Cy-Fair ISD

Yeager Elementary School — closed because of a confirmed cases of swine flu involving a student. The school is expected to reopen May 18.

Humble ISD

Maplebrook Elementary School — closed until May 18 as a child has been diagnosed with a probable case of swine flu.

Katy ISD

Beckendorff Junior High School — closed after a "highly probable" case involving a student. The school is expected to reopen May 11.

Lamar Consolidated ISD

Lamar Junior High School — closed because of a probable case of swine flu. It is expected to reopen on May 11.

Pasadena ISD

Matthys Elementary School — closed because of a suspected case of swine flu involving a student. The school is expected to reopen May 18.

Private schools

Episcopal High School in Bellaire — closed after a student was confirmed to have swine flu. The school is expected to reopen May 14.

Greatwood Montessori School in Sugar Land — closed until at least May 11 because of suspected case of swine flu.

I expect this list to grow during the weekend. I will keep everyone posted as time permits.

"The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day." - Abraham Lincoln

SWINE FLU: Does It Need A New Name?

It has been all over the news and web that some are upset that current flu that is sweeping the world is being called "Swine Flu".

Some, including the media, suggest it should be named the "North American Human Influenza A." Others say it should be named the "H1N1" flu. Other nom-de plumes include "swine-origin flu" and "swine-origin influenza A".

Flus in the past were named after the country in which they originated, such as:

Spanish Flu (1918): Killed more than 40 million worldwide.

Russian Flu (1889) and (1977): Two outbreaks 80 years apart.

Asian Flu (1957): Killed 70,000 in the United States alone.

Hong Kong Flu (1968): Killed 34,000 Americans.

I am going to stay with this tradition and rename the current flu scare as
"MEXICAN FLU."

From this point forward, I will refer to this outbreak as "Mexican Flu". I will post more on how it is going here in Texas later.

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594