Influenza, suspected to be the H1N1 variety, struck Sweet Home students hard last week with absentee rates reaching as high as 40 percent at Foster Elementary on Friday.

H1N1 vaccines are scheduled for this Thursday at Sweet Home High School for people ages 6 months to 24 years.

Pretty much all week long, the district has had more than 20 percent absent at four schools, Foster, Crawfordsville, Hawthorne and Sweet Home Junior High, Supt. Larry Horton said Friday.

Sweet Home High School had 15 percent absent on Friday, said Principal Pat Stineff. After having a number of teachers sick in October, she said, four or five were out on Friday due to illness.

Oak Heights was running 15 percent last week, said District Nurse Jane Bubak, while Holley remained largely untouched, with just a couple of students out with stuffy noses.

Foster had 11 staff members out on Thursday, Horton said. “So far we’ve been able to cover classes with subs.”

District officials were hoping the numbers will start coming down with the weekend, Horton said.

The district is taking more precautions against spreading the flu, he said. People are washing their hands even more frequently than they had been and stressing covering their mouths when coughing.

Staff members are disinfecting rooms and counters constantly, he said, and salad bars are closed.

Hand sanitizer dispensers were given to the district by Purell and installed outside every room in the district, he said.

The high school has especially focused on sanitizing computer labs and the student store, Stineff said.

Vaccinations will be available from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Sweet Home High School cafeteria on Thursday.

All children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Priority for vaccines will be given to people between 6 months and 24 years old. Following that, vaccines will be administered to pregnant women, people who live with or care for children less than 6 months old, health care and emergency medical service workers and people between 25 and 64 who have certain health conditions, such as HIV, diabetes, heart disease or lung disease.

Nasal vaccine will be used for healthy people between 2 and 49 years old. Injections will be available for younger children and pregnant women or people with chronic illness.

For more information about the vaccine, call Linn County Health Services at 967-3888, extension 2677.