Dear Parents/Guardians:
Thank you for enrolling your child in CTY's Summer Programs. Your child's well being is of paramount importance to us. This message shares some extremely important information about CTY's policies regarding this summer's flu concerns.
CTY is receiving flu management guidance from public health experts at Johns Hopkins as well as from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health agencies. Our policies reflect the needs of the CTY community, where students come from many states and countries, spend 6-7 hours a day in class with the same students, eat in common dining halls and, in our residential programs, live in residence halls.
There are many cases of flu throughout the US this summer. In fact, while we continue to operate 26 sites, a large number of flu cases in a short period of time led to our decision to close the CTY Carlisle site one week early. The presence of flu this time of year is unusual.
Flu symptoms this summer have been comparable to normal seasonal flu (fever, cough, aches). Because H1N1 flu (swine flu) has been so much in the news, when a student becomes ill, a first question may be, 'What type of flu is it?' Most of the flu this summer is Type A flu. The H1N1 flu (swine flu) is a variant of Type A flu. The test for H1N1 flu is no longer routinely performed, since it takes a week to get results, and because the treatment for both H1N1 flu and Type A flu is the same. Also, the 'quick test' in wide use to detect Type A flu has a sensitivity of only 50-70%, so it doesn't reliably rule out Type A flu.
Therefore, for the purposes of our program we must act based upon *symptoms of an influenza-like illness,* whether or not there is a confirmed flu diagnosis.
If, from seven days before session 2 (July 12 or after), your child has a fever of 100 degrees F or greater AND one of the following symptoms:
-- Sore throat
-- Cough
-- Stuffy or runny nose
he or she must not attend a CTY site for seven days after symptoms start, *even if no longer ill.* If not well after seven days, he or she must not attend CTY until well and without fever (off fever-relieving medicine) for 24 hours.
From July 11 to July 19, students who have had, or develop, flu symptoms should stay home and contact our office at 410-735-6277 or ctyinfo@jhu.edu.
We ask that you provide your child with a container of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to keep in his or her backpack or handbag. Hand sanitizer will be available in classrooms and other locations as well.
Arriving students will be screened for flu symptoms, to include a temperature check at residential sites. Students who have flu symptoms, or a fever of 100 degrees or higher, may not stay at the program. They need to return home, see their physicians, and call our office to discuss next steps. Be sure to check your child's temperature before traveling to CTY.
CTY students with flu symptoms are immediately isolated from other students. We will also call you to take your child home. Ill students must be out of the program for seven days from onset of symptoms, or until they are well and without fever (off fever-relieving medicine) for 24 hours, whichever is longer.
We may reduce student time away from the program only if negative rapid tests are confirmed by another test, such as viral culture or PCR, or by affirmative diagnosis other than flu. We will need a report from a physician that affirms 1 )the student does not have flu (not based solely on a negative rapid test); and 2) the student is not contagious to others.
The seven days begin when symptoms are identified by our staff. Please tell your children not to delay reporting symptoms to staff, and please call the site office if your child reports not feeling well to you. Staff will conduct daily symptom checks for all students.
If there is significant health news to report, such as cases of confirmed Type A flu or H1N1 flu, we will notify families by email.
Please note that the CDC currently does not recommend closing programs such as CTY in the event of one or more suspected or confirmed cases.
Students with special medical conditions. For children at higher risk for complications from flu, we ask that you contact your health care provider about your child's CTY program plans before traveling to the site.
Students traveling by public transportation (air, bus, rail). Students with flu-like illness should not travel by public transportation. If a student's only means of getting home is public transportation, families should arrange their own off-campus accommodations and stay with their child there.
Students who leave the program for health reasons receive pro-rated refunds of their tuition, room and board payments (and full refunds for medical withdrawals before the programs begin).
If you have further questions, send us an email at ctyinfo@jhu.edu . Email will allow us to forward your question efficiently to the person best able to respond.
The early identification and isolation of students with flu-like symptoms is critical to preventing the spread of illness. On site, we will emphasize with students the everyday precautions that can help prevent illness.
Sincerely,
The CTY Summer Programs staff
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