Infection Control: As School Year Begins, Custodial Staffs Confront Swine Flu Concerns

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On June 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged that a global pandemic of novel influenza A (H1N1)—commonly referred to as swine flu—was underway. Since then, more than 130 countries have reported cases of H1N1 flu. In the United States, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have reported H1N1 infections, with the U.S. reporting the largest number of H1N1 cases of any country worldwide. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) anticipates that there will be more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths associated with this pandemic in the United States in the upcoming fall and winter.

This is news that is both sobering and alarming for the nation’s school districts and their administrators, who are in the process of welcoming children for the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. When the H1N1 flu reached the U.S. last spring, school systems were put on high alert, with many closing their schools at the first sign that a student had contracted the illness. While the CDC recommends that school closures should be a last resort, assuring that an outbreak never comes close to reaching that point can simply be a case of being more diligent when it comes to personal hygiene, along with cleaning and sanitizing procedures. According to the CDC, school cleaning staffs should be especially concerned with the thorough cleaning of high-contact areas such as restroom sinks and fixtures, desks, door and locker handles, and computer keyboards.

“Something seems to come up every year, whether it’s bird flu, swine flu or MRSA,” said Lou Anne Bunn, Custodial Supervisor for Bonneville Joint School District 93 in Idaho Falls, ID, who has turned to automated cleaning for the district’s 18 schools. “Last year, we had a case of MRSA at Sandcreek Middle School. We just pulled a machine over there and did all the restrooms and haven’t had a reoccurrence. We’re confident that our regular cleaning regimen with the automatic units will help prevent the outbreak of swine flu, MRSA or anything else that might come up.”

Many school districts around the country have turned to the ICS—which offers other benefits to the user in the form of time and money savings, less physical stress on cleaning staff, and less consumption of water and chemicals—for their regular restroom cleaning duties and are confident that the ICS can play a prominent role in preventing outbreaks of viruses like H1N1.

Studies have shown that the use of automatic cleaning units—rather than the traditional mop-and-bucket or spray-bottle-and-cloth cleaning methods—results in cleaner, more sanitary facilities, particularly in hard-to-clean areas such as restrooms. To that end, Hydro Systems Co. offers its ICS 8900 touchless cleaning system, which is a battery-powered, self-contained portable cleaning system that uses correctly dosed cleaning chemicals that are applied by spray nozzle using low-flow/low-pressure technology.