School and health officials made it clear Friday they are doing all they can to prevent the spread of H1N1 flu in La Crosse area schools.

At a news briefing, La Crosse schools Superintendent Jerry Kember said the district is working with public health officials, hospitals, pediatricians and school nurses to keep schools safe.

"I want people to understand we're not working in isolation," Kember said.

Kember said his staff is carefully monitoring school absences, which peaked in the La Crosse School District last week and has steadily declined to typical flu season levels.

"We are cleaning and disinfecting at higher levels than ever before throughout every building," Kember said. "We are sending home any student complaining of any illness or ill feelings."

La Crosse County Health Director Doug Mormann had no new information on the death Wednesday of 7-year-old Cristian "C.J." Ehler, saying the investigation continues.

Ehler, a State Road Elementary School second-grader, died at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center after exhibiting flu-like symptoms. An autopsy Thursday revealed no obvious physical cause of death.

Cultures and lab tests could take several days to complete, Mormann said, and he will make the results public when available.

"It is very unsettling when there is a death. It's difficult for the family, it's difficult for our community, it's not taken lightly, and we're working diligently ... trying to figure out ways to prevent those kinds of things from happening," Mormann said.

"We do understand that this an uneasy time for parents, especially in our community, and we know they are trying to make good decisions about how and what they can do to protect their children," he said.

Most illness from H1N1 flu has been mild, Mormann said.

Dr. David Gerhard, Gundersen Lutheran pediatrician and medical adviser for the La Crosse School District, said parents need to be aware of how their children are feeling and screen for typical flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills, headaches, sore throat, cough, muscle aches as well as vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain.

"Our stance has been fairly firm: If the child is ill, they should stay home," Gerhard said. "That is definitely the safest for the child and the safest for the community at large to decrease transmission."

He said employers should be understanding when parents need to miss work to stay home with ill children.