Hi all. My 2 camps are winding down and it has been a pretty good summer so far ( except for the heatwaves last month). At one of my camps we had a small outbreak of a viral gastroenteritis, presumably Norovirus ,that was well managed and kept under control, however I am curious as to other’s mitigation practices in regards to this. Our biggest issue was staff that had been feeling ill but who did not report it to the camp nurse for a couple days allowing some significant spread. Within a couple of days we had 12-14 cases amongst staff and campers. All were quickly isolated and appropriate cleaning measures taken along with increased messaging about handwashing, which significantly slowed the spread and allowed our camp to remain open. My questions to others are; how do you manage and facilitate your communication between the camp staff and healthcare providers about potentially contagious illnesses they may be experiencing? ( I give a precamp talk to staff on such subjects, but it is still an issue). I find many of the younger camp staff reluctant to bring medical issues to the camp nurse’s attention until they have been sick for a while.
As N/V and/or diarrhea are not that rare in the youth camp setting for reasons other than infectious agents, when might you consider removing a child from camp activities and isolating them and/or others who are part of their enclosed sleeping quarters? Obviously, if one encounters a sudden cluster of campers or staff with the same GI symptoms, alarm bells go off, but what about less obvious signs? At what point would you consider closing down your camp? (not necessarily required by CDC guidelines).
Thanks for any sharing on this issue.