MAYFLOWER — Superintendent John Gray said last week that some Mayflower School District students still have mononucleosis, so drinking fountains districtwide have been shut down to keep the disease from spreading.
The 1,440-student district was closed Monday after an illness with flu-like symptoms swept primarily through the elementary school.
Symptoms included high fever and strep throat, and Gray said nine cases of mononucleosis were reported in elementary-school students.
“We have mono each year. What was unusual with this year, we got young kids with it,” he said.
In addition to elementary-school students, a couple of middle school students had mono, said Mandy Long, an administrative assistant. Some older students also got sick, and 14 elementary teachers were out, almost half the staff, Gray said.
“I think the closing worked; it was good for addressing the virus issue. I think it helped break that cycle,” Gray said.
“Of course, one day out doesn’t change the cycle of mono. We’re still educating, and we’ve closed down drinking fountains districtwide. We’re giving them bottled water. We’re trying to teach hygiene; we don’t want kids sharing drinks. It’s a saliva-transmitted disease.”
He said the district is buying bottled water, and some of it has been donated.
Gray said the outbreak of sicknesses started Oct. 11 with about 80 elementary students absent, and 14 teachers, almost half the staff, became sick. He sent a letter to parents asking them to keep their children home if the students felt sick or had a fever.
On Oct. 18, he said two-thirds of the 440 elementary students were absent. Some of the students were being kept out as a precaution, “so it’s hard to know how many were sick,” he said.
Before the district closed, the janitorial staff disinfected the buildings and changed air-conditioning filters.
Gray also called in state Department of Health officials to help identify the source of the illness.
Ed Barham, the department’s public information officer, said Wednesday that the cause wasn’t determined.
“We don’t really know; we may never know why so many people got sick at once,” Barham said. “We ruled out a vaccine-preventable or foodborne illness.
“We had our environmental health people come in and make sure they were following proper food safety. We didn’t find anything out of the ordinary,” Barham said. “We don’t have any flu in the state, yet, and we know any minute now ...”
Gray said the district had about 95 percent attendance on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We’re back to normal,” he said.
The elementary school’s Fall Festival, a major fundraiser, was rescheduled for this upcoming Tuesday because of last week’s illness.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.