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H1N1 flu sends 100 4-H kids home from State Fair
By BOB VON STERNBERG, Star Tribune
Last update: September 3, 2009 - 10:06 AM
The H1N1 flu has hit the Minnesota State Fair, prompting 4-H officials to send more than 100 children home after four tested positive for the disease.
The four cases were detected "during the past 40 hours," prompting program officials to call parents this morning, telling them to pick up their kids, said 4-H superintendent Brad Rugg.
Rugg said 4-H officials are working with state health officials "to be sure that the fair is a safe place and that the 4-H building is a safe place."
A Health Department spokesman said the four flu cases had been confirmed, but declined to provide details.
State Fair officials were formulating a response to the outbreak this morning, but had not yet come up with a specific response, said spokeswoman Brooke Dillon.
They plan to do so at some point later today, she said.
"We're taking every step to contain and break the cycle [of the flu]," she said. "We believe our plans will be successful."
The 4-Hers who are being sent home are part of a performing arts troupe that spends the entire 12-day run of the fair living in a dormitory known as the 4-H Hilton.
In total, more than 6,000 boys and girls come to the fair during its run, spending a few days or less there, he said.
"They called me at 7 and told me to come get my son," said Thief River Falls resident John Holland. "They said they were just doing this as a precaution after they came up with the confirmed cases."
His 17-year-old son, Richard, "doesn't have any symptoms, but it's probably the prudent thing to send him home."
However, his bigger concern is when his son returns to school at a time when school officials nationwide are bracing for a potentially massive flu outbreak.
"Do we leave him home for a week, since the incubation period is five days," Holland said. "He could be a prime carrier. What do you do? Let him miss school because of paranoia, or risk infecting other kids?"
http://www.startribune.com/local/56924807.html
By BOB VON STERNBERG, Star Tribune
Last update: September 3, 2009 - 10:06 AM
The H1N1 flu has hit the Minnesota State Fair, prompting 4-H officials to send more than 100 children home after four tested positive for the disease.
The four cases were detected "during the past 40 hours," prompting program officials to call parents this morning, telling them to pick up their kids, said 4-H superintendent Brad Rugg.
Rugg said 4-H officials are working with state health officials "to be sure that the fair is a safe place and that the 4-H building is a safe place."
A Health Department spokesman said the four flu cases had been confirmed, but declined to provide details.
State Fair officials were formulating a response to the outbreak this morning, but had not yet come up with a specific response, said spokeswoman Brooke Dillon.
They plan to do so at some point later today, she said.
"We're taking every step to contain and break the cycle [of the flu]," she said. "We believe our plans will be successful."
The 4-Hers who are being sent home are part of a performing arts troupe that spends the entire 12-day run of the fair living in a dormitory known as the 4-H Hilton.
In total, more than 6,000 boys and girls come to the fair during its run, spending a few days or less there, he said.
"They called me at 7 and told me to come get my son," said Thief River Falls resident John Holland. "They said they were just doing this as a precaution after they came up with the confirmed cases."
His 17-year-old son, Richard, "doesn't have any symptoms, but it's probably the prudent thing to send him home."
However, his bigger concern is when his son returns to school at a time when school officials nationwide are bracing for a potentially massive flu outbreak.
"Do we leave him home for a week, since the incubation period is five days," Holland said. "He could be a prime carrier. What do you do? Let him miss school because of paranoia, or risk infecting other kids?"
http://www.startribune.com/local/56924807.html