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Fifteen-year-old Katherine Matthews spent a week in June at Camp Wildwood nature camp in Kings Mountain State Park in South Carolina and came home with stories – and a stuffy nose.
She never felt really bad, but had a lingering cold. Then the family received an e-mail from the camp director: He was hearing from parents whose children became ill with the flu or flu-like symptoms after a week at the camp, about 37 miles west of Charlotte. Their doctors' tests for swine flu and strep had been negative, the camp director said in an e-mail.
Katherine's mother then took the teen to the doctor, too – and got the same diagnosis of flu.
While swine flu hasn't been confirmed in Katherine's case, the incident reflects the unique challenges summer camps face this year with the threat of the H1N1 virus that's hit at least three camps in the Carolinas this summer. The new swine flu virus was first reported in the United States in mid-April. It has infected as many as 1 million Americans, U.S. health officials reported in late June.
At some camps, organizers say they've reinforced their screening efforts at the start of camp in an effort to detect campers who might be ill – and should be sent home.
Other camps are continuing with standard procedures, camp directors say, which include reminders to campers and staff about frequent hand washing and not sharing utensils.
In June, Duke University campus officials said more than two dozen confirmed and suspected cases of swine flu virus affected campers and camp counselors attending various summer youth programs.
This month, officials temporarily closed Camp Dixie, a Bladen County summer camp about 150 miles east of Charlotte, after two cases of the H1N1 virus were confirmed and dozens of people became ill. And Camp Caraway in Randolph County canceled its boys' camp when two campers tested positive for the virus.
At Camp Golden Valley in Bostic, which hasn't had any suspected cases, staffers are using a mix of old and new procedures to screen campers, director Karen Prine said. Prine said medical staff traditionally takes campers' temperatures as soon as they arrive to the Girl Scout camp, about 80 miles west of Charlotte.
As always, girls sleep in cabins head to foot, so if someone is coughing, it's at the feet and not the face. And, as part of her longtime practice, Prine's hugs have a purpose – she'll put her cheek to girls' foreheads as a way to check their temperature.
But some new things are in place during camper check-in.
“What we've added this year is the nurse checks for swollen glands, and looks down their throat for redness” – symptoms of swine flu, Prine said.
No campers have shown signs of the virus, Prine said. But if they did, they would be sent straight to the doctor. And if the illness is confirmed, campers wouldn't be allowed to return to camp, but would stay at the doctor's office, where parents would pick them up.
At day camps with YMCA of Greater Charlotte, all campers and staffers are asked on opening day of each session, “In the past week, have you had a fever over 100°F and a cough or sore throat?” If yes, the child must be further assessed by the camp director and/or nurse, according to Y spokeswoman Molly Thompson.
At the Boys and Girls Clubs of York County, staffers look for symptoms of swine flu among campers, including chills, headache and body aches, cough and stuffy nose, among other symptoms, said executive director Karen Blankenship.
Organizers at Camp Wildwood suspect a camper showed up ill at the start of the one-week Kings Mountain camp and infected others, camp director Steven Bates said. The camp is sponsored in part by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
He said staffers suspected “something was up” when campers left Saturday morning. Later that day, they started getting calls from parents about kids not being well. Bates said they heard from families for about 20 ill campers, out of 120 attendees.
All campers checked in with the nurse at the start of camp, Bates said, and were asked how they were feeling and if there was anything the nurse should know. There were no special questions or procedures to screen for swine flu symptoms. They haven't yet discussed whether to change that for next year.
“I don't know any other way to do it. They sit with the nurse,” Bates said. “All you can do is ask.”
