When Ken Beiser saw the number of absent children double in two days at St. Susanna School in Mason, he made two decisions: close school and sanitize the building.

        Maintenance workers at St. Susanna, which has 428 students, began their task when classes ended Wednesday, after Mr. Beiser, the principal, decided to cancel classes Thursday and today.

        The high illness rate began about a week ago, when 20 to 30 students called in sick each day, compared with the normal six or seven.

        On Monday the number rose to 40 and by Wednesday, 78 children — including more than half of the eighth grade and nearly half of the seventh grade — were absent.

        “It kept going up every day,” Mr. Beiser said Thursday. “Whole families were out. As quickly as it escalated those three days is what prompted me to cancel class.”

        In the Mason schools, two buildings had higher-than-normal absentee rates, said Shelley Benesh, district spokeswoman.

        Typically, Mason Heights Elementary and Mason Middle School have about 30 children absent daily. But Wednesday there were 90 sick at Mason Heights and 74 at the middle school.

        Landmark Christian School in Evendale closed Thursday and will be closed today.

        Statewide, the flu season has been slow to start. Only 10 confirmed cases of influenza had been reported by Wednesday. Two of those were in Hamilton County. However, Children's Hospital Medical Center in January treated a record number of children, averaging 288 patients a day, compared with the normal 220, said Jim Feur, hospital spokesman.

        The Cincinnati area mirrors the spread of the flu within the state, said Dr. Malcolm Adcock, Cincinnati's health commissioner. Fewer people have complained of flu or flulike symptoms compared with this time in past years, he said.

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