MONROE — A particularly difficult influenza season showed signs of improving last week, according to absence figures from the Monroe School District.

During the last school week only 6-8% of students reported absences due to influenza symptoms on a daily basis, Monroe School Nurse Samantha Kubly said. This is approximately 150 students out of a student population of 2,650.

The previous week the percentage of students out of school for influenza was 10-13% — which is closer to 300 students.

Kubly said at this time of the year, in a normal influenza season, the student absence rate is 3-4%. The influenza spike has been seen across the state of Wisconsin and compared to some other school districts, Monroe has fared better.

“The number of students we’ve had out isn’t excessively high,” Kubly said. “It’s not the 30% of the school population that leads schools to close due to the illness. We want to dispel the fear that we’re anywhere near that right now… We have a lot of healthy kids at all of our schools.”

Green County Health Officer RoAnn Warden said Wisconsin has seen increases this influenza season of all known active strains including Influenza A, Influenza B, the H1 virus, and RSV. There had been a total of nine hospitalizations for influenza in all of Green County as of Wednesday.

“The whole entire state is seeing high levels of influenza,” Warden said. “As a state we’re seeing larger numbers of RSV virus attacks, which effect the very young.”

The basic defenses remain the same to combat influenza, Warden said. People can benefit from receiving influenza immunizations. Cleaners used at homes and workplaces should kill influenza viruses. People suffering flu symptoms or a fever should stay home until they are symptom-free.

In addition to this, Warden said, “Wash, wash, wash those hands.”

Kubly said the length of some of the cases seen in the Monroe School District has been longer than six days. Using medication such as acetaminophen to bring down a fever doesn’t stop a person from being contagious, it just hides a symptom, Kubly said.

“Sending a child that has an already compromised immune system back to school too fast just makes them more susceptible to catching one of the other strains of influenza,” Kubly said.

Kubly said the district has reiterated its “sick day” guidelines to parents, according to which a student has to be completely symptom- or fever-free for a full 24 hours before they’re healthy enough to return to school after suffering a case of influenza.

Warden said that although influenza cases are higher than average, they still haven’t surpassed the level of cases seen in the 2017-18 flu season.