East Idaho is reeling from one of its worst flu seasons in years and it appears the region’s children are being hardest hit.

The situation’s so bad that hundreds of healthy East Idaho school children are being told to stay home by school officials in an attempt to halt the flu’s spread in the region.

Three entire East Idaho school districts — Firth, Shelley and Fremont — have taken the unprecedented step of closing all of their schools because of the high number of students absent due to flu-like illnesses.

Health officials are strongly encouraging East Idaho parents to keep their children home from school if they’re sick to stop the flu’s spread in the region. Health officials are also urging everyone to wash their hands as much as possible because that easy step could keep you from catching the flu.

All of the Firth School District's schools will be closed on Monday due to the flu. That news came after the Shelley School District announced its schools will be closed on Monday and Tuesday because of flu-like illnesses. The Shelley School District advised its students via Facebook to “stay home and get well.”

The Fremont School District shut down all of its schools on Friday after nearly a third of the district’s students were absent on Thursday with flu-like illnesses. The district announced that its schools would also be closed on Monday due to the winter storm hitting the region.

With his schools hoping to open on Tuesday, Fremont School District Superintendent Byron Stutzman urged parents via Facebook to “please do not send your children to school if you suspect illness as doing so continues the spread of their illness.”

Stutzman said, “We don’t want a contagion to spread. Keep them home until they’re well. We’ll do whatever we can to help that child catch up to where they should be. That’s what great teachers do. We’re lucky to have a bunch of them.”

With a large percentage of their students fighting the flu at home, the Fremont School District’s teachers went to work on Friday, but instead of teaching they worked hard to clean and sanitize their classrooms in hopes of halting one of the worst flu outbreaks the region’s seen in recent memory.

The Madison County School District is also reeling from the flu. Three of that district’s schools shut down this past week after teachers and students came down with flu-like illnesses. Adams Elementary School closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, Burton Elementary School opted not to hold classes on Thursday and Friday, and Central High School closed on Wednesday and Thursday.

In most years, East Idaho will see a school or two close because of the flu, but during this flu season such closures have become common.

Taylor’s Crossing Public Charter School in Idaho Falls will be closed Monday and Tuesday because of flu-like illnesses, according to media reports.

American Heritage Charter School in Idaho Falls opted to cancel classes this past week because 30 percent of its students and one-third of its staff were out sick with the flu, according to a Post Register article.

On Tuesday, school officials announced that they were closing Tetonia Elementary School in Tetonia Wednesday through Friday because numerous students were out sick with the flu.

Hope Lutheran School in Idaho Falls also closed its doors this past week due to its student population being hit hard by the flu, according to media reports.

A few schools elsewhere in Idaho have recently closed because of the flu but no where in the state has been hit as hard as East Idaho by the illness.

Health officials don’t keep track of the exact number of flu cases in East Idaho but it’s clear by the unusually large number of school closings due to the flu in this part of the state that the illness is taking a significant toll here.

“Talking to clinicians, yes, there’s lots of flu going around (in East Idaho). Lots of sick kids,” Eastern Idaho Public Health Surveillance Epidemiologist Mike Taylor said.

The flu spreads via saliva, mucus and bodily fluids. Coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose can also spread it.

“It falls out of the air and lands on a shopping cart, remote controls and doorknobs,” Taylor said. “Wash your hands frequently. When you leave a public area, sanitize and wash your hands.”

The winter months are notorious for spreading the flu. It’s cold outside and everyone stays inside making it easy to catch the illness.

“People congregate indoors and at churches. We’re in closer proximity to people. They don’t go outside very much. A respiratory droplet spreads. People are coughing and sneezing. It very easily spreads,” Taylor said.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reports: “Flu can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Flu is different from a cold. Flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have the flu often feel some or all of these symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting.”

Local health officials have not yet said how many people have died from the flu in East Idaho thus far this flu season, but the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reports that statewide there have been 6 flu-related deaths. Over 100 people died from the flu throughout Idaho during the 2017-2018 flu season.

The 2018-2019 flu season could end by late February or continue as late as May and it’s anyone’s guess whether the situation will worsen or improve in the weeks to come in East Idaho.

Taylor said, “How big and how bad it’s going to get, we’re not sure.”

But he added that it’s still “not too late to get your flu vaccination.”