Continued: Swine flu strikes 10 at Minn. camp for kids with muscular dystrophy

Seven children and three adults at a summer camp in Minnesota for kids with muscular dystrophy contracted swine flu this month, contributing to the decision by the national Muscular Dystrophy Association to cancel dozens of its remaining summer camps across the country.

The national MDA also reported swine flu cases at camps in Utah and Pennsylvania. None was fatal.

The MDA of Minnesota wrapped up the one-week session at Camp Courage on Maple Lake, about 50 miles west of the Twin Cities, on June 12.

The Minnesota camp ran the full week because "the cases didn't show up until the camp was complete," MDA national spokesman Bob Mackle said Saturday. "None of the cases in Minnesota required hospitalization. They weren't severe."

All 10 people who fell ill -- among them three adult MDA staff members or volunteers -- have recovered, Mackle said.

Golden Valley-based Courage Center, the rehabilitation organization that operates Camp Courage and a similar facility on Lake George in northern Minnesota, "has no intention of closing either of our camps" because of the outbreak, spokeswoman Mary Small said Saturday night.

Small said that four of the 10 who fell ill were in the same cabin. She said camp officials were notified of the outbreak three days after the MDA group left, and the entire camp was immediately "sanitized," a disinfecting process that it already does on a regular basis. Other groups that use the facility were notified of the outbreak, but there were no cancellations, she said.

The state Health Department confirmed the "cluster of cases" coming from the MDA camp. "We are investigating it with the camp," said John Linc Stine, assistant commissioner for health protection.

Cases at another camp

Stine added that another camp in the state was hit recently with multiple suspected swine flu cases. And like the MDA camp, this one served kids "with underlying conditions" that made them more susceptible to swine flu.

Stine said he did not have details on how many people at that camp were ill or the severity of their symptoms. He knew only that the camp was located either in the Twin Cities area or in a county near the metro.

In anticipation of summer camp season, the state Health Department recently issued guidelines for camps to avoid contracting swine flu and other flu-like illnesses. They include watching staff members and camp attendees closely for symptoms, which include high fever and either a cough or sore throat. Also, staff and participants with flu-like illness should stay home for seven days after symptoms begin and until acute symptoms are gone for at least 24 hours.

The Minneapolis YMCA has installed hand sanitizers around its day camps and has advised counselors to pack Purell in their backpacks, said Connie Rodosovich, general manager of camping services. Rodosovich noted that the overnight camps, which typically run one week to three weeks, all have medical personnel on site and that they'll be monitoring campers for symptoms.

'Much more vulnerable'

Dr. Valerie Cwik, MDA's national medical director, said that children at her association's camps "are much more vulnerable because of their weakened respiratory muscles, so we are taking this preemptive action to protect them from possible exposure to the swine flu."

About 1,800 children have attended 33 MDA summer camps nationwide in the past month. Canceled are 47 camps with an additional 2,500 children.

On Friday, the MDA conferred with federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, who concurred with the decision to cancel the camps, "based on the fact that these children are at such high risk for complications from the flu virus," a MDA statement said Friday.

All children registered for camp as well as camp counselors, medical staff, paramedics and other volunteers are screened for any possible exposure to swine flu, as recommended by the CDC, the MDA said. However, a person may be infected and contagious before symptoms appear, Cwik said.

As of Friday, the national count of swine flu cases has risen to 21,449, with the number of deaths at 87. In Minnesota, there have been nearly 450 confirmed cases. One was fatal, a 5-year-old Minneapolis girl. Her family described her as medically fragile and born with a poor immune system.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482