Swine flu, pink eye, strep end camp early

Concord Monitor ^ | July 21, 2009 | Karen Langley

[kingu]

A Catholic camp for boys in Gilmanton ended a session one week early because of "a number of illnesses running rampant" among campers, a diocese spokesman said.

Ten campers had gone home and an additional 12 were sick at camp when the director of Camp Fatima ended a two-week session Friday, said Kevin Donovan. The illnesses included one confirmed case of swine flu as well as another flu strain, pinkeye, strep throat and upper respiratory infections, he said.

Most of the 276 campers went home, although some who live far away and plan to attend the next session remain, he said.

Camp Fatima is one of 10 or 12 camps that have consulted with the Department of Health and Human Services after finding influenza-like illnesses, said Chris Adamski, chief of disease control.

[kingu]

Perhaps it's just me, but, well, why am I not surprised about a biological melting pot occuring at Camp Fatima?

That aside, this really is a parent's worst nigthmare - you send your kid to camp, and they pick up some nasty diseases. The Survivors, a series in the UK, opened up with just such a premise, and hooked me in as a watcher because of it.

[Think free or die]

Our son is in NH, at a camp not too far away from Gilmanton. They reported that they were flu free earlier in the summer, but I’ve been a little worried that incoming campers attending the second session might bring some variety of creeping crud with them.

[AnAmericanMother]

Summer camp's just like school, only more so -- a petri dish for all sorts of nasty things.

Everybody's on edge this year because of the swine flu, but impetigo, pinkeye, giardia, and so forth surface every year . . . . you name it, they've got it. Less than optimum hygiene and 8-12 kids to a cabin helps the process along.

My daughter and I both survived 10+ years of rustic summer camp (I used to go for 8-week sessions, but summer's shorter now) without anything worse than a couple bouts of intestinal bugs. But there was always at least one communicable disease scare a summer, kids in the infirmary, and a few sent home.

[Sawdring]

I went to a summer camp in Northern Minnesota when I was a teen. We went out on a six day canoeing trip and three of us got sick. We were two days in and it was hell getting back. When we returned I spent the night in the hospital as a precautionary measure. 200 kids in the camp had gotten food poisoning and our counselors had taken some of the tainted food with us. They shut the camp down early for that session and asked our parents if they would consider not asking for their money back.