St. Jude school closed today, Friday due to flu outbreak

St. Jude Thaddeus School announced Wednesday on its school Facebook page that it will be closed Thursday and Friday due to an outbreak of influenza at the school.

St. Jude Thaddeus School Principal Mike Haugen said more than 30 percent of their students were absent Wednesday which is up from the 15 percent of students absent Monday.

“Nothing like this has happened before,” he said. “Many phone calls were made and articles read to help make the decision.”

Northern Montana Hospital Infection Preventionist Ginny Herberly said the hospital is not seeing any unusual activity with influenza as it is considered normal for this time of year.

She added that stomach illnesses are always around, but she hasn’t seen any prevalence of the illness.

“We have restricted the  obstetrics department to any person under the age of 18 and that restriction will continue till the activity of flu and respiratory illness goes down in the community,” Herberly said. “It is just a precaution.”

Hill County Public Health Director Kim Larson said Montana has 1,200 confirmed cases of influenza, with Hill County having 19 confirmed cases Wednesday.

She said the amount of influenza in the county is about normal for this time of year.

Chouteau County Health Department Public Health Nurse Angel Johnson said that, as of Thursday morning, it does not have any school closures due to influenza. 

“We have had less than 10 flu cases in the county with about three  being in school age kids,” she said.

Blaine County Public Health Nurse Jana McPherson said the activity in Blaine County is about normal.

Representatives of Liberty County Health Department had not responded to requests for comment made this morning by print deadline this morning.

Haugen said St. Jude’s has adequate hours built into its calendar and will not have to make up these days.

“As we are a much smaller school community, this outbreak has hindered our ability to provide quality instruction to the entirety of our students,” Haugen said.

Its Facebook page said St. Jude’s will be open again Tuesday, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day.