An 11-year-old attending a summer camp at Washington College has been diagnosed with swine flu.
Charlene Perry, public health emergency planner, says the boy tested positive for H1N1 virus and was taken home, which is out of state, by his parents.
Asked about the child’s condition, she quoted Dr. Leland Spencer, health officer for Kent County, as saying, “What happens with many of these cases where the individual is not in a high risk group, the illness is relatively mild and the victim can recover at home.”
The boy became sick last Wednesday night and was taken to Chester River Hospital Center.
A statement from Washington College said, “As other camp attendees began displaying similar symptoms in the final days of the camp session last week, the specimen taken from the suspect case was sent for H1N1 flue confirmation. As of this afternoon the Kent County Health Department confirmed the test was positive.”
All the campers who had similar symptoms left the college campus last week at the end of that camp session.
“Prior to a new cycle of campers arriving, all areas the campers had frequented were disinfected as a precautionary measure, and increased monitoring is now underway. All new arrivals have been screened, and one has been turned away.”
To date, Maryland has had some 730 confirmed cases of the flu. Three in the state have died of it.
Nationwide, there have been 40,000 confirmed and probable cases of the virus and 260 deaths.
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