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Some Question Town's Response To H1N1

Health Officials: Flu Fears Calming Down

POSTED: 9:28 am EDT May 4, 2009
UPDATED: 8:21 pm EDT May 4, 2009

Schools remained open in Middlefield on Monday despite the fact that a child in the school system became the state's second confirmed case of the H1N1 influenza A virus.

Some parents in town told Eyewitness News they believe the superintendent should have shut down the John Lyman Elementary School, where the sickened girl is a student.

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Parents will have a chance to question the school district's decision to keep the school open at a meeting Monday night.

Other parents told Eyewitness News that they agreed with the district's decision to hold school on Monday because the girl never returned to school after her family's trip to Mexico.

However, the concerned parents said the girl's fourth-grade brother has been attending school.

Kim Thompson's son is in the same John Lyman Elementary classroom as the sickened girl's brother.

"What I'm really concerned about is they didn't mention the brother, didn't care that the kids were in the classroom with that child's brother," she said. "You are more concerned about hat child's privacy than the kids in the classroom -- that's what bugs me."

Superintendent Susan Viccaro said privacy was the reason that parents in the district were not told that the sick child has a sibling in the schools. She said she has been in constant communication with the parents of the sick child.

"They way the Department of Public Health explained it to me is, family members, if they are not symptomatic, are able to return to work and to school," she said. "In this case, the parents did keep the sibling home for a few days and then the sibling did return to school."

Viccaro said even though the school was not closed, it was scrubbed down.

"I'm sure they've been consulting with the CDC and other boards, so I have no concerns," said parent Kathy Gullage.

Viccaro planned a public hearing to discuss the district's response to the situation for Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Coginchaug High School. All parents are invited to attend.

The Middlefield child was the second confirmed case of H1N1 in the state. The first confirmed case was identified in Stratford on Friday. Stratford officials said the affected resident is a married adult without children in the town's school system.

The state Department of Public Health has identified several other probable cases of the virus in Connecticut, including Glastonbury, Wethersfield, Granby and eight in Fairfield.

A student of Wells Road Intermediate School In Granby was identified as having a probable case of the virus on Monday. The school was closed on Monday and officials said it would remain closed on Tuesday. Other schools in town were open. Granby officials said they expected it to take several days to get the results of testing of samples taken from the student and sent to the CDC.

Samples from the non-confirmed cases were tested at the Department of Public Health laboratory and determined to have a strain of influenza other than the seasonal flu.

Health Officials Discuss H1N1 In Conference Call

Members of Connecticut's Congressional delegation joined experts from the state Department of Health on Monday for a conference call with hospitals statewide to discuss where things stand on H1N1.

The politicians said after the call that things are being handled well.

"I think the fact that there isn't a panic here is in no small part due to the fact that our Department of Health is engaged in this on a regular basis," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

The basic message from the department is that things look better, he said, at least for now.

"If this flu virus acts like other flu viruses, we should see transmission tamped down as we get into the summer months," said Dr. Matthew Cartter, the state's epidemiologist.

But state officials said they're worried about a possible second wave this fall and will be watching other parts of the world where flu season is just beginning.

"A lot of the focus will be on what's happening in the southern hemisphere with this new virus during their flu season," Cartter said.

Health officials said emergency rooms in Hartford and around the state were inundated with patients with possible flu-like symptoms last week. They said that slowed down over the weekend, which is a good thing.

"The acute care hospitals on our call this morning were talking about how they're not seeing that rush of people demanding to be treated and seen and tested," Cartter said.

He added that most hospitals haven't touched the 144,000 courses of anti-flu medication on hand in Connecticut, so they feel well-prepared as they watch and wait.


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