Johnson County school will be closed Friday to combat spread of flu, reports say

A Johnson County Catholic school will be closed on Friday to combat the spread of flu, according to media reports.

Officials with the St. Michael the Archangel School, a K-8 private school in Leawood, elected to disinfect surfaces in the facility rather than hold classes.

Christa Krumm, a parent of a student at the school, told Fox4 that planned activities for Catholic Schools Week were also canceled this week due to the spread of illness.

Krumm said many students and staff members had fallen ill in recent weeks.

Kansas was recently identified as the nation’s hotspot for flu-like symptoms by Kinsa, a company that collects smart thermometer data.

That makes Kansas the sickest state in a country currently experiencing the worst outbreak of influenza since the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

Kinsa reported this week that Kansas had surpassed Missouri to take the nation’s top spot in percentage of people showing flu-like symptoms like fever, cough, sore throat and chills. Kansas was at 6.6 percent and Missouri was at 6.5 percent. Iowa ranked third at 6.3 percent and the national average was 5 percent.

That fits with the latest reports from state health departments, which show a slight downturn in Missouri and a continuing increase in Kansas as of last week.

The Star’s Andy Marso contributed reporting.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 10:53 PM with the headline "Johnson County school will be closed Friday to combat spread of flu, reports say."