Virginia USA: “Potential disease outbreak” at high school causes hundreds of students to miss school with flu-like symptoms

(CBS News) A Virginia high school will remain open even as hundreds of students continue to stay home because of flu-like illnesses.  Stafford High School, located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, had a “high number of student and staff illnesses” reported last week, prompting the school to shut down all activities and athletics scheduled from Friday through Sunday, the school said. The school, which has roughly 2,100 students, saw 1,000 student absences on Friday. On Monday, 670 students were absent, and on Tuesday, 526 students — about a quarter of the student population — continued to miss school, the district’s chief communications officer Sandra Osborn told CBS News.