School Closures May Not Be Necessary When Swine F...(ne clinics Frieden said. It's a great ...),Health

One expert called the new recommendations "sensible and reasonable," but noted that certain illnesses other than flu can cause sudden fever.

"My only concern is that people who dont have flu, I think they are recommending that anyone with a sign of fever has to be out of school for a week," said Dr. Stuart E. Beeber, attending physician at Northern Westchester Hospital and a pediatrician in private practice in Chappaqua, N.Y. "You could have a strep throat or gastroenteritis or something, and that's overkill for those people and a hardship on the families, working parents -- providing babysitters and so on for someone who has strep throat and is treated with penicillin and is ready to go back to school in a day or two."

Beeber noted that it is relatively quick and easy to identify strep throat, however, and the flu does have a distinctive set of symptoms. "To me, there are certain things - if you tell me you have chills, aches, you feel like someone hit you over the head with a sledgehammer, you've got the flu," he said.

More information

Find out the latest on H1N1 flu at the CDC.

SOURCES: Stuart E. Beeber, attending physician, Northern Westchester Hospital, and pediatrician, private practice, Chappaqua, N.Y.; Aug. 7, 2009, news conference with: Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary; Janet Napolitano, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary; Arne Duncan, U.S. Department of Education Secretary; and Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., director, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Aug. 7, 2009, CDC Guidance for State and Local Public Health Officials and School Administrators for School (K-12) Responses to Influenza during the 2009-2010 School Year