Absenteeism on the rise in schools

H1N1 influenza cases are growing at southern Ontario's public schools.

"It's starting to increase," said Anne Marie Aikins, a spokeswoman with Toronto Public Health.

At six Toronto schools, more than 10 per cent of students are absent with influenza symptoms, likely from the H1N1 virus. None of these schools has been closed.

Public health units are monitoring absentee rates at schools because the virus spreads easily among children in close quarters.

Public health officials have identified outbreaks in 32 of the 114 schools – nearly one-third – in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. One school in the public board reported 30 per cent of its students absent, though some may have been kept home for other reasons or as a preventative measure, said John Forbeck, a Hamilton board superintendent.