 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
H1N1 flu outbreak reported at Ontario summer camps1 ~! T7 n1 e4 ?- X! J. C
8 S0 @# ~3 w8 H4 e& G8 ~1 fUpdated: Wed Jul. 15 2009 3:50:08 PM0 K: {( }; Z5 k- J, z
5 s( K( I% G$ \6 z5 M8 Z7 I& w. E; J
ctvtoronto.ca- w8 D, j6 \9 A% K3 L/ V1 C% W, c
+ ?: W7 L3 f B' vThe Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is reporting that 227 young people at three summer camps in cottage country have developed H1N1 flu.
& N, m! W3 p2 I3 u0 R% u1 u o* z0 G; q( C
Dr. 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.
9 T0 l# n7 ~* y8 b
$ L& t# L2 ^$ [/ z0 `The 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.# w3 v7 ?; |4 |9 ]+ g& ?- p
" K; \0 T' z3 `) h' a' s4 vThe number of infected represents almost one in five campers and almost one in seven camp staffers at the affected camps.& q8 ~0 r" x3 \2 s! H' P0 `
# I" _8 d4 V, i4 N) n9 |* J9 I/ GThe cases developed in the past week. All are considered mild, meaning no one required hospitalization, Gardner said.4 A7 Y: x9 k$ O- V/ r
% h$ y* E* [+ A$ p0 @# L
"The camps are working very closely with the health unit to implement what we call control measures," he said.
: U( S/ K: R) W: e. S2 q' K1 O1 `" j5 {6 f
Most of the infected campers have been sent home to recover. Those who can't be sent home for whatever reason are in quarantine.
2 E# x3 I; k; y, F. J: ]& \" _
. {. e! I% L% G, x7 EGardner 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.
1 E$ P( |, q# S8 M0 d( g& S& ?) K: r) y0 b! D
"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.+ R& R# a- R( X5 S. |+ \
' ~5 t( ?7 \0 F; t$ _+ ~( mParents can help by making sure they aren't sending sick children to camp, Gardner said.. H! f- C& E3 { L! R6 |
4 M0 r& R4 ` t1 C0 W4 V D5 o% N"Do not send your children to camp if they have any influenza-like illness," he said.
6 F! S0 o. o& s3 u, @) R: r' d) {; r0 o$ ~$ h2 i1 S
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., d: I0 J, i! d, E
: B$ Y, C- x( k: a1 LGardner said the district thought there could be some outbreaks at camps this summer, given that some cases had occurred in schools.
* P2 r1 a# J5 N! A0 Q/ ^" ^; V; g9 v1 z' S& I
However, normally the district is usually more focused on working with camps to prevent outbreaks of gastroenteric diseases and on injury prevention, he said. |
|