hornblower
Moderator
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/07/16/swine-flu--camp017.html
Swine flu probed at 3 more Ontario camps
Last Updated: Thursday, July 16, 2009 | 2:44 PM ET
Health officials were looking at three more summer camps Thursday for cases of swine flu in Ontario's cottage country but said there is no need for parents to keep healthy children away.
The camps under investigation will have a few children clinically tested for the virus before it is a confirmed location with H1N1, said Dr. Na-Koshie Lamptey, acting associate medical officer of health for the Simcoe-Muskoka health unit.
This follows confirmation of swine flu at three other camps in the region, about 150 kilometres north of Toronto, with 227 children showing symptoms of the virus. All cases are considered mild, said Lamptey.
The camps with confirmed cases are past their peak with fewer new cases being reported every day and none of the camps in the region has been closed because of illness, she added.
The affected camps are Camp Ramah, a Jewish education camp attended by more than 450 young people in Utterson, near Bracebridge; Olympia sports camp, just outside Huntsville; and Camp Tamarack in Bracebridge.
Ontario's health minister reassured parents Thursday that their kids aren't in danger and that the province is closely monitoring the situation.
Stay home if symptoms show
Parents should rest assured that the government is working with local public health units to ensure their children's safety, David Caplan said in a statement.
Experts say the summer camps can remain open as long as they continue to follow ministry guidelines around the necessary precautions, he said.
Parents should remind their children to wash their hands to protect themselves from the flu, Caplan said, and should keep them at home if they show any symptoms.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said it was the responsibility of the local health units to monitor cases at summer camps, and Caplan said those health units are responding to inquiries by summer camp staff in a timely manner.
As of Wednesday, there have been 9,855 confirmed cases of swine flu across Canada. Among those, 902 patients have been hospitalized. Thirty-nine people who contracted the disease have died, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The World Health Organization in early June declared the spread of the virus had reached pandemic level, the first time a global flu epidemic has occurred in the past 41 years. The organization raised its pandemic alert level to Phase 6, the highest on the scale.
Swine flu probed at 3 more Ontario camps
Last Updated: Thursday, July 16, 2009 | 2:44 PM ET
Health officials were looking at three more summer camps Thursday for cases of swine flu in Ontario's cottage country but said there is no need for parents to keep healthy children away.
The camps under investigation will have a few children clinically tested for the virus before it is a confirmed location with H1N1, said Dr. Na-Koshie Lamptey, acting associate medical officer of health for the Simcoe-Muskoka health unit.
This follows confirmation of swine flu at three other camps in the region, about 150 kilometres north of Toronto, with 227 children showing symptoms of the virus. All cases are considered mild, said Lamptey.
The camps with confirmed cases are past their peak with fewer new cases being reported every day and none of the camps in the region has been closed because of illness, she added.
The affected camps are Camp Ramah, a Jewish education camp attended by more than 450 young people in Utterson, near Bracebridge; Olympia sports camp, just outside Huntsville; and Camp Tamarack in Bracebridge.
Ontario's health minister reassured parents Thursday that their kids aren't in danger and that the province is closely monitoring the situation.
Stay home if symptoms show
Parents should rest assured that the government is working with local public health units to ensure their children's safety, David Caplan said in a statement.
Experts say the summer camps can remain open as long as they continue to follow ministry guidelines around the necessary precautions, he said.
Parents should remind their children to wash their hands to protect themselves from the flu, Caplan said, and should keep them at home if they show any symptoms.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said it was the responsibility of the local health units to monitor cases at summer camps, and Caplan said those health units are responding to inquiries by summer camp staff in a timely manner.
As of Wednesday, there have been 9,855 confirmed cases of swine flu across Canada. Among those, 902 patients have been hospitalized. Thirty-nine people who contracted the disease have died, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The World Health Organization in early June declared the spread of the virus had reached pandemic level, the first time a global flu epidemic has occurred in the past 41 years. The organization raised its pandemic alert level to Phase 6, the highest on the scale.