Schools and health care providers in Butler County have been preparing for the H1N1 flu since it first appeared in the late spring.

Basic prevention techniques are being taught in schools and health care offices.

The top three recommendations are:

• Wash your hands often,

• Cover your mouth and nose for coughs and sneezes,

• Stay home when sick at least 24 hours after having a fever.

Nationally, a new two-shot H1N1 vaccine is being prepared for mass inoculations this fall, along with the annual flu shot.

So now it's a matter of wait and see — wait for people to get the flu and see how bad it could be.

Wait and see, that's what both Ed Fink, Butler School District superintendent, and Larry Henry, superintendent of the Karns City School District, are doing.Fink said school nurses have been made aware of all instructions from the Centers for Disease Control and the state Department of Health, and Henry said teachers have been taught how to teach students to wash their hands more thoroughly."I know it sounds strange, but it's something we have to do," Henry said.Seneca Valley School District officials have taken considerable effort to check into the potential impact the H1N1 virus could have on the district's 7,363 students.Linda Andreassi, district public relations director, said, "If there is any mass illness that occurs that affects student or staff attendance and health in our district, we want to address that."She said each school has been supplied with hand sanitizers in common areas, such as cafeterias and computer labs. She said administrators saw a hand-washing demonstration in which a black light was used to detect germs on the hands.Andreassi said while hand washing seems to be an elementary skill, the demonstration showed improper hand washing leaves germs on the hands.She said one fascinating part of the demonstration was the friction method of removing germs from the hands. The black light showed in the absence of soap, the hands can be vigorously rubbed together and rinsed to remove germs.Andreassi said each school's principal is required to schedule a hand-washing demonstration for all students and staff. She said the demonstration also will be broadcast on SVTV and Channel 50.Another measure that could help prevent the spread of germs is learning the proper way to sneeze. Andreassi said it is time to discard the long-held rule of covering your mouth and nose with the hand when sneezing."You should sneeze into your elbow if it's clothed, or your shoulder if your elbow is bare," said Andreassi, who added school nurses will place hygiene posters, including sneezing techniques, in all schools.Andreassi also is using the district's Web site, www.svsd.net, to provide education on the H1N1 virus and allay parents' fears. The district's 60-page, pandemic plan is displayed on the home page's left side.The district Web site also includes a "lessons in germs" link that itself includes a link to the state Department of Health.The district has taken steps to ensure it is prepared should the illness become an issue. All school nurses must have a plan in place regarding how and where ill students would be isolated from the student population.School nurses are talking to parents at each school's orientation to reduce fears raised by the national predictions on the number of Americans who could contract H1N1, which also is called the swine flu."I feel like we're prepared," Andreassi said.The Mars School District also has a pandemic plan in place should H1N1 strike.Superintendent William Pettigrew said students and staff will be encouraged to stay home if they feel ill. He said students who do come to school displaying any potential symptoms of H1N1 immediately will be isolated.Pettigrew said students and staff will be asked to wash their hands with soap and water and cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. He said ill staff and parents will be encouraged to seek immediate treatment for the virus, and absenteeism will be monitored."If the state gives us other directions, we will attempt to follow them," Pettigrew said.Josh Schwoebel, Mars director of public relations, said the district's pandemic plan includes a crisis response handbook that would be used in case of a severe outbreak of H1N1.Schwoebel said the district is adhering to the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Human Services.

However, Fink said the message from those national agencies could be clearer."Bits and pieces conflict, and could be clearer," he said, adding that information from the state Department of Education has been especially good."But then New York has banned touching in schools this week, no hugging or high fiving," Fink said. "Should we do that? Is it going to be that bad? And how are we going to regulate something like that?"Now it's just a question watching and seeing," he said.

With more than 8,500 students plus faculty and staff, Slippery Rock University has been preparing for H1N1 since May, when a group of SRU students in Mexico got the flu.On Wednesday, the university announced it had its first H1N1 case, and it just opened on Monday.Rita Abent, executive director of SRU public relations, said educational information on the flu is everywhere on campus and the university will continue to e-mail students health information for as long as need be.As for the student health center, Abent said the university is asking students with flu symptoms to call instead of going to the clinic initially."If they do have the flu, we don't want them sitting in the waiting room with students who are there for other reasons," she said.The clinic staff will then advise ill students to come to an isolated area at the center.Abent also said staff and faculty have been asked to remain at home should they have a fever or show flu-like symptoms, and the administration asked faculty be a bit more "lenient" with class attendance should students prove to be sick."If you're sick, we don't want you at work and not in the classroom," she added.

The Community Health Clinic of Butler County's plan to combat the H1N1 flu sounds a lot like the SRU health clinic — don't have flu patients sitting in the waiting room.Cece Foster, the health clinic's executive director, said when the flu came in the spring, the clinic worked with Dr. John Reefer, Butler Health System vice president of professional affairs, as well as an internist."In the spring, we referred flu patients to the hospital, where they were screened and evaluated in isolated rooms," Foster said.Dr. Tom McGill, BMH vice president of quality and safety and an infectious disease control specialist, said this week the spring flu plan is still in effect at the hospital.That plan is to basically test for the flu and treat patients who have it, plus promoting the prevention methods described before.Again, wait and see, then treat those who get sick.<B><I>Eagle staff writer Paula Grubbs contributed to this story.</I></B>