The cold and flu season is affecting attendance at some Mandan elementary schools.

Fort Lincoln School was missing 90 of its students, about 20 percent of the student population, and 10 percent of students were absent at Mary Stark Elementary.

"If kids are not healthy, it doesn't do any good for the student to have them in school," Mandan Superintendent Wilfred Volesky said.

The Mandan school district just came back into session Wednesday after a four-day weekend.

In the Bismarck school district, Moses Elementary had 20 students miss school Wednesday and Grimsrud had 10 students missing school, which is 4 and 3 percent of the student populations respectively. Otherwise, there are no real spikes in absences, according to district spokeswoman Renae Walker.

The state is nearing the time of year it tends to reach a peak in reported influenza cases.The latest report, which is a week behind current conditions, shows there have been 42 reports of the flu. That is up from 37 reported the previous week.

Health officials recommend flu shots as the first line of defense against getting the flu. Additionally, people can take other precautions against spreading germs. This includes washing hands frequently, coughing into a sleeve, staying home from school or work when sick and using hand sanitizer when hands are not heavily soiled.

Symptoms of flu include fever, chills, headache, cough and body aches.

For more information about the flu, visit www.ndflu.com.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)