Swine Flue at Summer camp

[shortridge]

"They wanted us to be prepared..."

 

I think all of us already learned that lesson somewhere before.

[Hal_Crawford]

"The border between the US and Mexico should have been closed since last weekend! The fact that the poor infant who died in the Houston CAME from Mexico City and did so AFTER the WHO alert came out over the weekend scares the crap out of me".

 

You were misinformed. The boy entered the US April 4 and was admitted to the hospital on April 8. That was what, three weeks ago? The genie was out of the bottle before any of us were talking about swine flu. How many tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people crossed the border during the last few weeks? Given the outbreaks in other parts of the world it is clear that closing one border will do nothing to stop the spread. Don't forget, its not just Mexicans spreading this virus There is an outbreak in NYC that traces to private school kids that spent spring break in Cancun. Should the government have turned them back at the border? Sorry kids, you can come home in November.

 

The CDC and the WHO are both saying that the best use of resources is to fight the disease rather than to try to limit its spread. Its pretty clear why.

 

 

 

[ASM915]

Penn,

Just finished the plans for barricading the camp entrances. No one allowed to enter. Try and be staring down the barrel of a BB gun.

How soon can you be here? Don't forget the NVG's.

I'll see your S1999, and raise you 1 Wookie and 2 Pharangies.

 

STOCK TIP!!! Can we all say Purell?

 

Last summer in July, our Council camp went into silent camp wide emergency in mid-July for an outbreak of stomach flu. Had about 30-40 sent out of camp, or left on their own (10 to EDs and STAT CARES). The upper level camp staff were making rounds from about 8:00 PM until well after midnight, informing the troop leaders of the situation. There were around 600 in camp. Staff was also out well after midnight sterilizing the shower houses and latrines, as well as installing Purell stations at all the campsites, and managed to stop the spread.

 

Our troop always stays way out in Outpost on the far side of the lake. We lovingly posted "NO TRESPASSING - Trespassers will be made to sit through 4 hours of campsongs!!!" signs, then a few days later, "QUARRENTINE - ENTER AT OWN RISK" signs. Kept everyone out except our darned camp commissioner. Oh well, we tried.

[gwd-scouter]

Couple of years ago we had a stomach bug run through camp. At first it was thought to be dehydration. It was a very hot, dry, summer. The bug spread quickly and all troops during our week had at least one person affected. Some were taken to the hospital. DHEC was brought in to check the kitchen to rule out food poisoning. Couple of guys in our troop got it, I came down with it very early Friday morning. It was not pleasant, but only lasted a day or so.

 

One good thing came out of the experience and that was a most memorable quote. Around midnight, one of our scouts came outside, walked over to the trashcan, vomited, wiped his mouth, looked at me and said, "sometimes, a guy's just gotta barf."

 

Swine flu at camp? Maybe. But, doesn't flu die down in the hot months? I think the concern now is that it will just go to ground for a while and then reappear in the fall.

[SMT224]

Here is a good resource for keeping up on the science of H1N1 from the British science group CABI. They usually charge very high fees to access their databases, but have opened everything up and put together a "dash board" with continuously updated info. I found the "case heat map" very interesting. Plenty of info here for the curious and paranoid!

 

http://www.netvibes.com/cabialerts#About

 

 

[SMT224]

Not to be out done by the Brits, the huge US medical journal publisher EBSCO has just launched a Swine Flu web site with lots of H1N1 info.

 

More for the curious and paranoid!!

 

http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/swineflu/

[scoutldr]

Not sure I trust any site that lists Wikipedia as a reference.

[upnorthmn]

Actual Associate Press headline from 5/21/2009

US swine flu deaths hit double-digits

Meanwhile the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports an average of 18,048 unintentional home injury deaths occurred annually in the United States (6.83 deaths per 100,000.

These deaths occur as a result of falls or fires within the home.

Thousands more have died from slipping in the tub than from the 'Swine Flu'..

[packsaddle]

Gwd-scouter, I have to tell you that I was there for that wonderful event. I love the smell of vomit in the morning, it smells like.....scout camp. Yep, I guess you were there too but that was a study in behavior, watching the people near ground zero. Thankfully, none of that fallout landed on this unit, figuratively or literally.

 

I agree that the H1N1 threat is probably not going to seriously affect summer camp. The measures we take to protect ourselves in this pandemic are probably some of the same measures we should take during normal times.

I read a nice encapsulation of this virus's history in a Newsweek article recently. It was written by Laurie Garrett who is not a scientist but she IS a pretty good science writer. She wrote a very engaging (and well-referenced) book called "The Coming Plague" and she did a nice job of outlining why this virus is different AND very important. The link:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195692/page/1

 

THIS version of H1N1 is a mosaic of three viruses and its story demonstrates the way our social, economic, transportation, and our food systems interact to support the creation and propagation of these things. Nice.

[Tokala]

Looks like the little bug made a trip to summer camp:

http://www.campdanielboone.org/Home/tabid/188/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/215/Default.aspx

 

Editted to add: LOL, I just noticed everyone spelled flu as flue. When did pigs get chimneys?(This message has been edited by Tokala)

[packsaddle]

That would be everyone else who used the word in their posts, NOT everyone. By the way, pigs do get chimneys when properly cooked as hickory-smoked barbecue. Yum. Leviticus can go take a flying jump at a rolling doughnut, IMHO.

[Mafaking]

 

Hey, as the post author i just wanted say that, "Bad spelleng is an missunderstud arte."

___________________________

 

Two cases of swine flu, hmmm? I still think the "Pandemic" is overrated.

 

 

[RememberSchiff]

Saw this - Camp Daniel Boone, N.C. sends home 19 scouts, 10 tested positive.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31372626/ns/health-swine_flu/

[SctDad]

Schiff

 

I think that your numbers are off. We just got a press release sent to us from our council and district through our newsgroups. There were two that had tested positive and 1 was still out. Now there were some that were kept in quarentine if they had a fever of 99 or higher, and ALL people in camp had their temp checked. After 24 hours of being seperated, only 4 still had a fever. The ones that did still have a fever were brought food and monitored. According to the e-mail they have tested only 7 for the swine flu. The ones that tested positive were from out of state, they were up from Florida. They were brought their food and made to feel comfortable, while things were being checked out.

 

They also put out that if a scout has a fever, then they need to stay home. Secondly, if a scout comes to camp and has a fever, then the whole troop will be isolated from the rest of the campers or have the option to go home. This is to prevent spreading the disease.

 

if you have any questions call your camp before leaving home and ask them what their policies are.(This message has been edited by SctDad)

[Tokala]

Another camp affected by swine flu:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6748888

 

Maple Dell in Utah closed for 1 week due to 1 staff member testing positive.

 

Mafaking, I wasn't trying to be an internet spellchecker. I literally got a chuckle out of the "swine flue". I hope you did not take my commet differently.