H1N1 Flu and Egypt Schools

Everyone in Egypt understands the H1N1 Flu threat, and the effect of possible contagion in environments of closer contact, like schools. Ever seen local buses, metro, coffee shops in action. Also bear in mind this time of year is also the season for ordinary flu.

Nevertheless, schools have a population of children, so need to be assessed on their own merit.

The quandary in Egypt is the attempt to administer on a level playing field when you have different systems.

1. Private International Schools for Non- Profit (40,000 plus LE per year) come under jurisdiction of Minister of Social Affairs (maybe name has changed lately)
2. Public (40 LE per year fees) and Private International Schools (40,000 plus LE) - Minister of Education.

Obviously, the public schools are not funded adequately to have a preparedness plan for H1N1. However, good faith decisions made by Ministers, based on the lacking contagion control in Public Schools is also applied to Private Schools where the contagion identification and controls are in place. Already rumors abound of school closures beyond Oct 3rd.

Makes me wonder if Government agencies could not develop protocols for schools to implement, and setup periodic inspections. If the protocols are found in place, the school could be allowed to function.

Please read this newspaper article describing the difficulties of the public schools to try to have a contagion plan. The article is from Al Masry Al Youm and sometimes doesn't work at night when they are uploading new articles. If so, try again later.