Now that Labor Day weekend has passed signifying the end of summer for most of the nation’s school kids, everyone is getting back to the daily grind of work, school, sports and other activities. With school being in session, there is more opportunity for sickness to spread, so could the new school year bring with it the potential for more cases of H1N1 Swine Flu?

According to a Fox News report, the U.S. Center for Disease Control is predicting that it will. Even though cases of the disease appear to be tapering off, the CDC warns that more outbreaks could be on the horizon for the new school year.

The hardest hit area of the country is the southeast, where schools have already been in session for three to four weeks.

Many schools are just getting started today, so outbreaks of the virus may not start obviously cropping up until later this month or even the beginning of October.

The good news about H1N1 is that the virus has been around for a while now, and the strain doesn’t seem to be changing and becoming more deadly. That means most cases should be relatively easy to cure and most people won’t suffer severe illness.

According to School Nurse, the first two months of school are the most treacherous for kids – at least as far as getting injured is concerned.

Fall sports are getting started again, after a summer free of organized school activities; kids are excited to see all their friends and act extra rambunctious on the playground during recess and lunch; and most of all, the idea of getting hurt is probably the last thing on any kid’s mind.

Of course the chance of personal injury varies depending on the age of kids. School Nurse says of injuries that happen at school, most are in the middle school/junior high age range. Here are some stats:

• 46% of at-school injuries occur at the middle school/junior high level
• 39% are among elementary school kids
• 16% of school injuries happen in high school

At least we can see that kids are getting smarter as they grow up! As for how/where injuries occur, here’s the deal:

• On the playground: 59%
• During lunch: 27%
• Athletics/gym class: 10%
• Miscellaneous: 31%

To help your kids stay safe at school, remind them to be careful and not play too rough with others. When it comes to sports, sometimes those injuries are harder to avoid – no matter how carefully an athlete plays.

If your school district has an abnormally high rate of injury among students, lobby for safer, newer playground equipment and more education about stretching before exercise and properly using equipment.