By Mark W. Olson

The flu hit early and hard this year, giving District 112 fall sports teams quite a workout.

“Varsity had a stretch where the number of healthy were barely outnumbered by the number of unhealthy,” said Chaska High School girls soccer coach Ryan Meulemans.

However, sports officials are hoping the worst is over. And data appears to back up their hopes.

According to Kristi Juaire, coordinator of health services for District 112, “the trend in occurrence of influenza-like illness is showing a decline.”

A big decline, according to Juaire’s statistics. During one week in late October, the District reported 82 students per day reporting flu-like illnesses. Compare that with the week of Nov. 16-19, where an average of 12 students reported a flu-like illness.

“The decline in occurrence in District 112 is consistent to what is being seen throughout the state,” Juaire said.

Sick season

“It did not seem to necessarily be worse, as far as symptoms went, when you had it, but the hard part was that nearly every athlete in cross country was ill at some point and often we had more than five runners sick at one time. It was really the widespread nature this year that made it tough,” said Chaska cross country coach Jesse Longley.

“It was worse in the number of kids, but not the severity. I didn’t have kids gone for two weeks battling the flu or anything – they were gone or a couple of days tops and back at it,” Meulemans agreed.

At the game against Kennedy, cheerleading coach Sue Downs said she only had 12 out of her 17 cheerleaders. “It hit hard! The kids were gone generally three to five days and had lingering coughs. By the end of the football season, we were back at full force,” Downs said.

However the number of sick kids never led to cancelled games at Chanhassen or Chaska high schools, according to the athletic directors. “We’ve been really, knock on wood, healthy,” said Chanhassen High School Athletic Director Dick Ungar.

“We had a stretch about mid-fall in terms of our competition where it was pretty hectic around here and I know some teams were struggling with putting together a full-line up for varsity,” said Chaska High School Athletic Director Troy Stein. “But things have really calmed down to where we’re at right now.”

“We’ve been trying to be smart and use common sense to prevent anything from starting up,” Ungar said.

Most of the teams fought the flu by not sharing water bottles, washing hands frequently and using good hygiene. If they were sick, they were told to stay home.

The State High School League tells athletes not to participate if they have flu symptoms, and not participate at least 24 hours after the fever is gone, without the use of fever-reducing drugs. “Usually that means staying home for five to seven days,” notes a league position statement.

Once, after shaking hands at the end of a game, Meulemans overheard a soccer player say she needed to grab some hand sanitizer. “That’s the world we’re living in now,” he said.

Back in game

Once athletes were struck by the flu, it took them a while to regain their top performance. Runners were probably pushed them back two to three weeks from where they were performing before the bug, Longley estimated. “Two of our top runners – Kyle Economy for the boys and Kaila Urick for the girls – both were sick near and during our section and state meets. It definitely impacted their late-season performances. Other key varsity runners missed a good week of practice and never quite got back to where they were,” Longley said.

However, since other teams were also hit by the bug, it was tough to say if it impacted the local team more than any other team, Longley said.

Meulemans recalled an instance where the team’s starting goalkeeper played a game and ended up going to the doctor the next day with a 103 temperature. Two field players tended goal the next game while the goalkeeper recouped. (Chaska won.)

From mid-September to mid-October, the cheerleading squad was “scrambling” to assemble the more difficult stunts. “Safety is our No. 1 priority and if someone isn’t used to a particular position within a stunt group, they can’t take another one without careful practice,” Downs said. “Generally during that four-week period, we were without anywhere from three to six participants for practices and any given game. I was pulling my hair out, but absolutely nothing but time made these kids better.”

With the cheerleading seasons starting again, “hopefully the flu has run its course,” Downs said.

Sharing the pain

The coaches felt the misery first-hand. “I survived until the last week of the season then I got sick myself,” Longley noted.Downs and her husband Bob provide foster care for Carver County teens. Four of their five foster kids came down with H1N1. Coughing and tiredness put them out for a week, Downs said. “One even said, ‘Sue, even my eyeballs hurt.’”

Neither Sue nor her husband came down with the flu. However, she noted, “My grown son Curtis and his wife spent Halloween night through early the next week at Children’s Hospital with their 3-1/2 month-old daughter who had an unbreakable, very high fever. Two days later they came down with it. All positively tested for H1N1,” Downs said.

“I’m not saying a word, because I’ve been good,” said Meulemans, who is a physical education teacher and technology specialist at District 112 elementary schools. He notes he spends his days working on computers or tying shoes and sanitizes his hands frequently.

“I should invest in stock in Purell,” Meulemans said.

Through the flu?

Average number of students per day reporting influenza-like illness in the district:

Oct. 26-29: 82

Nov. 16-19: 12

Source: Kristi Juaire, District 112 coordinator of health services