DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- Iowa health officials say cases of the flu are increasing in school, with 56 schools in 23 counties reporting earlier this week that at least 10 percent of their students were absent due to illness.
Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the Iowa Department of Public Health's medical director, says the high number of cases isn't surprising because swine flu is most common among people between the ages of 5 and 24.
Because vaccines for the flu, also known as H1N1, may not be available at all schools, the health department is urging students and parents to look for signs of flu and plan ahead to keep ill children home.
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