By Kantarawaddy Times
In a school located in the western part of Dee Maw Hso Township, Karenni State, nearly half of the students have been unable to attend classes over the past week due to a seasonal flu outbreak, according to Daw Yu Paw, the school’s headmistress.
“We had to halt some lessons because many of the students are absent due to the flu outbreak. Even if only a few students attend, we can’t proceed with the lessons. In some classrooms, we’ve had to pause entirely. If students fall ill, we encourage them to stay home to prevent spreading the illness to others,” said Daw Yu Paw.
She further explained that during this rainy season, there has been a rise in respiratory infections and flu cases, with the illnesses spreading rapidly among the students. There is an urgent need for mobile health teams to visit the area to provide medical care and help contain the outbreak.
“It would be really helpful if we had regular visits from mobile health teams. The school has been open for about three months now, and we really need a school health team to come and provide treatment,” the headmistress added.
Currently, students who fall ill are receiving treatment at nearby CDHN clinics, resistance group clinics, or local pharmacies.
“My sister has been sick since the 19th, and she’s already missed four days of school. It started with a mild fever, but then she began shivering, feeling dizzy, and nauseous. Because of her illness, she was given permission to rest at home, and her friends have been helping her catch up with her schoolwork,” said the sister of one of the sick students.
Due to the school’s location in an area with a high mosquito population, it is reported that there is also a need for mosquito repellents and emergency medicines to prevent and treat mosquito-borne diseases.
