Roanoke City Public Schools on Wednesday issued an automated phone message to parents of students to remind them to keep their children home if they demonstrate any symptoms of H1N1 virus, better known as swine flu.

As the state health department and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend, the school system said any parent or caregiver who suspects that a child is getting the flu should keep the child home and avoid contact with others to avoid spreading the virus; contact the doctor's office by phone before going in person; and encourage the child to use good cough and hand hygiene.

With more than 13,000 students, the school system, which is the second largest in Western Virginia after Roanoke County, plans to send home a letter with students on the current H1N1 recommendations.

-- The Roanoke Times