The purpose of this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is to support a research project that aims to develop and implement an influenza-like illness (ILI)-specific student absentee monitoring system in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) schools and assess its usability for early detection of

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influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and other respiratory pathogen transmission in schools and surrounding communities.

To achieve this aim, the project team will:
1) rapidly determine the causes of school absenteeism in students across selected school district(s) over a three-year period; 2) detect within-household transmission of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 in households from which a student has been absent from school due to ILI; and 3) assess comparability between influenza-specific and SARS-CoV-2-specific student absenteeism data from the participating schools and multiple layers of complementary influenza and SARS-CoV-2 surveillance data routinely collected in the health care facilities serving the general population of this school district.