TRAVERSE CITY -- Absences in Grand Traverse County schools largely dropped this week once buildings reopened after a suspected swine flu outbreak.
Entire school districts in Traverse City and Kingsley, as well as some charter schools and Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District programs, closed last week due to an increase in flu-related absences.
Local health professionals believe the virus is the H1N1 influenza strain.
Benzie County Central and Frankfort-Elberta districts also closed.
Most schools noted declining absences this week, according to data from the Grand Traverse County Health Department. Administrators report attendance figures daily.
"We would expect that they'd drop," Director Fred Keeslar said. "It may have abated the problem for now, but it's not a solution."
Traverse Heights Elementary is the only Traverse City public school on the current radar, where data showed absences hovered between 10 and 20 this week, district spokeswoman Alison Arnold said.
Most of the district's other schools posted single-digit absences, especially toward the end of the week.
Benzie County Central Schools saw a "significant improvement" in student attendance this week, Superintendent Dave Micinski said.
Some district facilities had absences ranging as high as 50 percent last week, he said, but the district average is about 8 percent now.
"We're pleased to see we've had a very positive increase," Micinski said, citing a focus on germ-battling practices. "This whole emphasis now on proper hygiene, washing hands, it's really changed the culture."
Schools remained open in Suttons Bay, where attendance has remained between 93 and 95 percent, Superintendent Mike Murray said.
The virus hit "pockets" of students at a time rather than sweeping through the district at once, Murray said, which helped contain it.
Eight people were inpatients Friday at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City with flu-like symptoms, a hospital spokesman said, but he did not have details about their ages or whether they have underlying health conditions.
School immunization clinics will be held next week, but dates are tentative until more vaccine arrives.
Eighteen health providers in Grand Traverse County have not received any doses to administer, Keeslar said.
Bill Crawford, health officer for the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department, said about 250 doses remain and another 1,100 are on order.
Staff writer Art Bukowski contributed to this report.
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