DES MOINES, Iowa — Parents of students at Bergman Academy in Des Moines received an unexpected email in their inboxes Dec. 5. The school wanted to inform families that more and more students were falling ill, and if that trend got worse, a temporary closure wasn't out of the question.
"We sent the email letting them know, number one, this is what we're seeing. We have had diagnosed cases of influenza. We have seen RSV. There's always a virus here and there that pops up during this time of year," said Christie Stover, head of school at Bergman Academy.
But it's certainly not a problem that's unique to Bergman Academy. According to the latest date from the Iowa Department of Public Health, 39 schools across the entire state are reporting 10% or more of their student body is currently out sick.
And many of those sick kids end up needing serious medical attention. Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines has been seeing an unusually high surge in RSV and influenza cases. And the reason why may have to do with kids' immune systems simply not being ready to deal with the seasonal illnesses.
"With COVID-19, we isolated, we didn't go places for a couple of years, so we have a couple years worth of kids that really haven't been exposed to as many of the respiratory viruses," said Dr. Julie Anderson-Suddarth, department chair of pediatrics at Blank Children's Hospital.
In order to help keep their issues from reaching that level, Bergman Academy is starting additional cleaning measures, such as extra sanitizing rounds after classes end and using air purifiers. If some of these sound familiar, they should — a lot of them are the same protocol the school used when COVID was at its peak.
"What really matters is that we're keeping our kids safe and healthy. And when they're safe and healthy, they can learn better. And I know that things like this can run through very quickly. And the most important thing we can do is provide people with information," Stover said.
Anderson-Suddarth told Local 5 that, while most RSV cases can be dealt with like a bad cold, there's a few signs parents should look out for in case a child needs emergency care. Those include being unable to drink and having severe difficulty with breathing.