Victoria student has virus

Victoria High School confirmed Friday that one of its students has the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

Three other students have confirmed flu cases that are being investigated, said district spokeswoman Laura Boss.

The school does not plan to close or cancel any events right now on account of the cases, but the school has been sending out notifications to parents to be on the lookout for flu-like symptoms.

“With some of the other cases that had occurred they said ‘shut down the schools, no exceptions,’ but I think the health-care agencies have realized that that’s not necessary,” Boss said.

Aside from the confirmed swine flu case, school officials have noticed an increase in absences due to illness recently, which spurred the notifications.

According to the Orange County Health Care Agency, there have been 94 confirmed cases of swine flu countywide as of Friday.

Under direction from the Centers for Disease Control, the agency is not recommending schools be shut down when a swine flu case is confirmed, said agency spokeswoman Deanne Thompson.

A school in Fountain Valley was dismissed last month on account of the virus, during the height of the panic, but authorities say the symptoms have since shown themselves to be mild.

“A confirmed case or even two or three confirmed cases would not be reason enough to dismiss a school,” Thompson said, adding that a closure would only be recommended if multiple cases prevented a school from functioning in a “normal way.”