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2 groups of youths from Plano fall ill during trips to Colorado
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, June 19, 2009
By MATTHEW HAAG / The Dallas Morning News
mhaag@dallasnews.com
Two groups of children from Plano on trips in Colorado have fallen ill in recent days, perhaps with swine flu.
At least 30 children from a Plano church's youth choir group in Colorado Springs have shown swine flu-like symptoms, health officials say. Meanwhile, a group of Boy Scouts from Plano and Houston at a campsite in Pueblo were quarantined at a nearby hospital after a boy tested positive for the flu.
Many members of Grace Presbyterian Church youth choir started complaining of shortness of breath and fevers in the last few days as the group neared the end of its eight-day trip through several states. The group made a scheduled stop Wednesday in Colorado Springs, where chaperons contacted county health officials.
"We are evaluating several of the ill individuals, and they are being tested for H1N1 influenza [swine flu]," said Dr. Bernadette Albanese, the medical director of the El Paso County, Colo., Department of Health and Environment. "The illnesses would meet the qualifications of an outbreak."
Although test results aren't completed yet in either case, health officials believe the virus afflicting the choir group is swine flu. The cases come a few days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a warning about swine flu possibly spreading this summer at camps.
Colorado health officials believe one or more choir members contracted the virus in Texas before the trip began June 12. The group of 70 children, sixth-graders through 12th-graders, rode on two buses to Colorado.
Albanese said the virus probably traveled rapidly through both of the buses. However, the children, some of whom are suffering from sore throats, headaches and excessive coughing, haven't been hospitalized.
The rest of the trip, which would have included stops in Kansas and Oklahoma before returning to Plano on Saturday, has been canceled, said Wes Durow, a chaperon on the trip.
He said the sick children will likely stay in Colorado Springs until they feel better. Some healthy children have returned to Plano.
"We have taken every precaution," Durow said. "The kids who are not feeling well, we want to make sure they are under the best medical attention."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
2 groups of youths from Plano fall ill during trips to Colorado
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, June 19, 2009
By MATTHEW HAAG / The Dallas Morning News
mhaag@dallasnews.com
Two groups of children from Plano on trips in Colorado have fallen ill in recent days, perhaps with swine flu.
At least 30 children from a Plano church's youth choir group in Colorado Springs have shown swine flu-like symptoms, health officials say. Meanwhile, a group of Boy Scouts from Plano and Houston at a campsite in Pueblo were quarantined at a nearby hospital after a boy tested positive for the flu.
Many members of Grace Presbyterian Church youth choir started complaining of shortness of breath and fevers in the last few days as the group neared the end of its eight-day trip through several states. The group made a scheduled stop Wednesday in Colorado Springs, where chaperons contacted county health officials.
"We are evaluating several of the ill individuals, and they are being tested for H1N1 influenza [swine flu]," said Dr. Bernadette Albanese, the medical director of the El Paso County, Colo., Department of Health and Environment. "The illnesses would meet the qualifications of an outbreak."
Although test results aren't completed yet in either case, health officials believe the virus afflicting the choir group is swine flu. The cases come a few days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a warning about swine flu possibly spreading this summer at camps.
Colorado health officials believe one or more choir members contracted the virus in Texas before the trip began June 12. The group of 70 children, sixth-graders through 12th-graders, rode on two buses to Colorado.
Albanese said the virus probably traveled rapidly through both of the buses. However, the children, some of whom are suffering from sore throats, headaches and excessive coughing, haven't been hospitalized.
The rest of the trip, which would have included stops in Kansas and Oklahoma before returning to Plano on Saturday, has been canceled, said Wes Durow, a chaperon on the trip.
He said the sick children will likely stay in Colorado Springs until they feel better. Some healthy children have returned to Plano.
"We have taken every precaution," Durow said. "The kids who are not feeling well, we want to make sure they are under the best medical attention."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.