Kids trudging back to school with their new books and backpacks will also be carting along the H1N1 virus and B.C.'s health officer says he's expecting a spike in flu cases this fall.
Normally, flu doesn't start to ramp up until the winter, but Dr. Perry Kendall said Monday that B.C. health officials are preparing for a fall outbreak.
"The kids in the schools, who have no resistance to the virus, spread it around to each other," Kendall said.
"So we can expect quite reasonably that when the kids come back to school, they'll bring the virus back with them and we'll see a sort of seasonal flu outbreak. We'll see it probably in the fall rather than in the winter and spring. So we'll see it early."
To prepare, the provincial government is posting fact sheets about the flu on its website and schools and teachers are being briefed about ways to limit the spread of the virus.
Kids will hear lots about handwashing with soap and how to sneeze into their sleeves, not their hands.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, said soap and water is the best, but some schools might look at hand sanitizer.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Education said school districts would have to pay for sanitizer themselves -- more money for it won't be forthcoming from government.
As well, the province is in talks with pharmacists on training that would allow them to help out nurses and doctors by administering flu shots.
But Kendall said British Columbia will not close schools as a precaution.
In the spring, when the virus first emerged, British Columbia did close some schools, he noted.
But after studying the virus for the past several months and by watching how the virus has behaved in Southern Hemisphere countries that are already going through flu season, the conclusion appears to be that this H1N1 seems to be a nasty -- but not devastating -- illness, Kendall said.
The health officer acknowledged that closing schools as a preventative measure would probably slow the spread of the virus.
That's been evident by the dip in cases over the summer.
On that basis, health authorities could have decided to keep the schools shut until Christmas or beyond, Kendall said.
But he said the social costs of closing schools would far, far outweigh the benefits.
"If we'd kept all the schools closed until Christmas, we may have seen less virus circulating, but then you have huge social impacts on parents, on the workforce," Kendall said.
"Plus, (students are) bored, they're unsupervised, they're hanging out at the mall. They're still spreading the virus. You have limited benefit for a lot of social disruption."
Besides, he said it's much easier to manage infection control with youngsters in one place -- schools -- than scattered around as a result of closures.
Kendall said the only likely reason a school would be closed is if too many of its teachers are sick.
Kendall was echoing the caution of Canada's chief public health officer. Dr. David Butler-Jones and Health minister Leona Aglukkaq issued guidelines last week, saying common sense prevention techniques are a far more effective, sensible route.
Kids who turn up at school who appear sick should be isolated in a sick room and sent home with a parent as soon as possible, Kendall said.
The vaccine against H1N1 is currently in production and testing, but should be available to everyone by the end of December.
Kendall said plans are in the works to figure out how to undertake a massive vaccination campaign, and enlisting the help of pharmacists may be part of the solution.
Ida Chong, the province's healthy living minister, said talks are underway to get pharmacists the training they need to administer the vaccine.
"We should have that in place by, I would say, in the fall, but prior to the vaccine being made available," Chong said.
Alberta is also considering such a plan.
Lori DeCou, spokeswoman for the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia, said such training would consist of one day of theory and one day in a live workshop.
"We have at this point determined that it would be both a theoretical and practical training program," she said.
"A pharmacist has to successfully complete both of those modulars. In addition to that, they have to maintain current certification in both CPR and first aid."
DeCou said the college is hopeful the theoretical program will be available online by early September, with live workshops to follow a couple of weeks later.
In addition to flu injections, DeCou said pharmacists would be permitted to administer travel vaccinations.
"The thing that makes pharmacists potentially so helpful in this is that there are literally pharmacists in one shape or form in every community across this province," she said.
"I think pharmacists certainly see themselves as health care providers. They are active in their communities and certainly see themselves as a valuable resource for their patients."
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Healthy Living said who pays for the training is still under negotiation.
