Task force to address spike in Prince George's County school illnesses

More students in Prince George's County schools are getting sick. Now the school system's teaming up with the county health department. And things got so bad, one elementary school closed for several days last week. Fox 5's Josh Rosenthal is in College Park tonight with more. They're creating a joint task force to deal with all these kids having to miss school. At least one expert thinks that's a good idea. Ideally, when you have an area where there are lots of individuals Congregating every day where there is exchange of infectious disease, you want the public health department to be engaged in that process. Here's the deal. Prince George's County officials announced tonight that this task force will bring together folks from the school district and folks from the health department. They'll coordinate a response to what's happening now, as well as if something similar happens in the future. We recently told you about Princeton Elementary School in Camp Springs, which had to close for several days last week. It's because dozens of students and staff members reported flu-like and gastrointestinal symptoms. Officials used that time to deep clean and sanitize the building. Still, though, you've got cold and flu season right around the corner. Here's infectious disease expert Dr. Amish Adalja. I think when you have disruption occurring in a school because of illness, I think it's really important to try and get to the root of it. Try and understand what's driving it. There's a lot that can be done at a school level to minimize the impact of infectious disease. Among those things that you can do, wash your hands, Cover coughs and sneezes, and if you're sick, stay home.