 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
H1N1 flu outbreak reported at Ontario summer camps" S2 O" U8 q8 D% A" Y
7 G% A2 Y# X* g
Updated: Wed Jul. 15 2009 3:50:08 PM
: R: l3 \) H( u9 s
6 v5 w) s: ]1 Q$ ^! {ctvtoronto.ca
4 ?- B) b* O7 L% _, _# X% C
8 M3 u! Q0 k. F3 ^1 {- j9 OThe Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is reporting that 227 young people at three summer camps in cottage country have developed H1N1 flu.4 O& j. c* A0 s1 A1 x" h6 k& n
' o! e9 m* s0 E; L' W d9 l3 R6 rDr. Charles Gardner, the district's chief medical officer of health, told ctvtoronto.ca on Wednesday that the district isn't saying which three camps are involved., l* d2 ~# l+ g! B
( ~* q/ ^0 m2 U1 S* fThe lakeland area of central Ontario covered by the district has 71 registered camps. The three camps involved had 1,275 campers and 480 staff, he said.
4 D! U1 C, M0 _3 k A
, f9 c* K/ |6 m( iThe number of infected represents almost one in five campers and almost one in seven camp staffers at the affected camps.! ?1 Z+ v# C- }6 G; O
2 g4 v. {; V8 y" C* _The cases developed in the past week. All are considered mild, meaning no one required hospitalization, Gardner said.
$ ]) [) {6 I4 O- T6 t0 v$ \3 q. o+ S: n F0 X+ J% Q4 F5 n
"The camps are working very closely with the health unit to implement what we call control measures," he said.8 H; G2 Q! D2 E* q4 e( M. L
+ d1 j, }, S7 d( }) KMost of the infected campers have been sent home to recover. Those who can't be sent home for whatever reason are in quarantine.7 S$ R @& l8 G. u; V& e
9 X! S" o. d+ R Q- d" s$ Z% NGardner said the district is also having all camps tell all parents in writing that "this is an unusual year" -- referring to the outbreak of H1N1, which the World Health Organization has declared a pandemic.$ w$ D% Z# \( ^6 Y
$ V% E- b9 `# ?; o9 {5 S1 T"They need to be aware of H1N1 influenza, that we've had three outbreaks to date and there's the possibility we could have others," he said., l. v' {$ g. f# W' A7 o
5 h, l6 E$ [2 |( d
Parents can help by making sure they aren't sending sick children to camp, Gardner said. }3 d8 Q! t2 k$ g7 e \ W
. m: `. ]7 x( S! x% v1 t"Do not send your children to camp if they have any influenza-like illness," he said.
N/ h+ I! c+ O$ H& K# X* x& k6 b1 O0 K- @" R
Those symptoms include fever, cough, sore throats or a general sense of malaise. "If that's happening within seven days of them coming to a camp, they should not go," he said.
+ L$ O4 F, s! r% }& a. O7 h5 }5 w& I5 @
Gardner said the district thought there could be some outbreaks at camps this summer, given that some cases had occurred in schools./ _( r+ S4 A8 F3 N# p( n* `
6 i8 Q6 A* m. s# z% l" L# ]/ |6 FHowever, normally the district is usually more focused on working with camps to prevent outbreaks of gastroenteric diseases and on injury prevention, he said. |
|