Scary Stuff---Schools Closed

3 School districts have closed their schools for today and tomorrow, out here in Rhode Island...

Its scary stuff to me...a lot of kids are getting penumonia, and some are leading to meningitis or encephalitis. One 2nd grader died on December 23rd.

The state and CDC and Health Department are investigating, but its still so scary...

Heres the article in our local paper today if you are interested in reading it..




Schools closed in Warwick, Coventry and West Warwick

04:43 PM EST on Thursday, January 4, 2007

By KATE BRAMSON
projo.com staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- More than 20,000 children are out of school for the rest of this week as three public school districts have shut their doors at the state Health Department's recommendation early this morning.

Digital extra
Jan. 4
Meningitis fear closes schools

Health chief: Practice good hygiene, monitor symptoms

Health officials want to track cases of pneumonia statewide

Phone numbers


From the CDC

Rhode Island Department of Health

PDF: Health department questionnaire for the parents of some West Warwick students

Survey: What do you want to ask the health department about the situation?
The state expects to have enough information this weekend to decide to reopen schools Monday in Warwick, Coventry and West Warwick.

Health and school officials in the three communities decided to close the schools "out of an abundance of caution" after health officals learned late last night that a Coventry elementary school student is at Hasbro Children's Hospital with a probable case of meningitis. according to Michael Maynard, director of public information in the governor’s office.

State health director Dr. David R. Gifford said that the Coventry student "is doing very well" and is expected to be discharged from the hospital today.

Additionally, all parochial schools in Coventry, Warwick and West Warwick were closed for today by the Diocese of Providence. Bishop Hendricken High School, which did open, was closed later this morning.

School sports are also being affected in the three communities. No public high school athletes from those districts will compete in any events during the closings. High school and youth hockey programs at Thayer Arena in Warwick and the West Warwick rink have also been suspended.

Gifford said during a 6 a.m. press conference today that there has been an unusually high incidence of pneumonia in the three communities.

Another press briefing on the situation has been scheduled for 3 p.m. today.

The state Health Department is expecting more epidemiologists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to come to Rhode Island to help investigate this recent increase of infectious disease. The governor's office says about a half dozen CDC epidemiologists are already in the state, working around the clock to investigate mycoplasma pneumoniae.

It's unknown at this time if the Coventry child's illness has been caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae, the common bacteria that has mysteriously led to three cases of encephalitis in children in Warwick and West Warwick, Maynard said. A second-grader from Warwick died from encephalitis Dec. 21. The two other students diagnosed with the disease have recovered.

"But it was similar to some of the previous cases the Health Department has been reporting on," he said.

The child -- whose grade level, age and gender has not been released -- was hospitalized within the last couple days, Maynard said. The student attends Hopkins Hill Elementary School.

When health officials learned late last night of the Coventry student, the Health Department worked furiously with school and town leaders into this morning to determine a course of action, Gifford said.

Gifford said in a statement issued at 3:15 a.m. today that health officials need to "collect additional information and further investigate this recent case of meningitis and the high incidences of pneumonia at several of these schools."

The Coventry child’s blood test, results of which should be ready this weekend, should help health officials determine if that student’s illness is in any way associated with mycoplasma pneumoniae, a common bacteria that led to the cases of encephalitis in schoolchildren in Warwick and West Warwick, Gifford said.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae usually causes symptoms resembling the common cold, which typically go away without treatment. Some people develop “walking pneumonia,” a mild form of pneumonia; sinusitis; or ear infections —all of which can be treated with antibiotics. Only in one-tenth of 1 percent of cases does a mycoplasma infection involve a central-nervous-system disorder such as encephalitis, a rare inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, an infection of the fluid surrounding the spinal cord or the fluid surrounding the brain.

Gifford expects to have blood tests and additional investigations completed by this weekend to determine whether three public school districts should reopen by Monday.

“I believe it is very likely that the information will show we can open the schools on Monday,” Gifford told projo.com this morning.

The same infectious disease specialists who have treated those three children with encephalitis are treating the Coventry child, Gifford said. In any other year, those physicians would say the latest case is “probably just an atypical pattern of what we normally see,” Gifford said.

But with a “heightened index of suspicion” this year as state and federal health officials analyze the recent illnesses, doctors determined it was necessary to test this child for mycoplasma pneumoniae, Gifford said.

“This is not a situation where I say I’m really suspicious this [blood test] is going to come back positive,” Gifford said. “I think it’s going to come back negative, but, you know, you never know when you send the test out.”

If the test were to come back positive for mycoplasma pneumoniae, health officials would re-evaluate whether to open schools on Monday, Gifford said. If school closures are necessary, Gifford said they would cover a much narrower pool.

With this latest potential case of meningitis, health officials are now questioning whether the bacteria is still active. Most other cases of pneumonia they’ve examined are back in November and December, Gifford said.

“This new case raises the question: Are we still seeing mycoplasma around here?” Gifford said.

The public schools that are closed serve 20,670 children, according to the districts' October enrollment numbers. Coventry schools have 5,635 children, Warwick schools have 11,236 children and West Warwick schools have 3,799 children.

There have been no other reports “of anything unusual” in any other school districts, Maynard said, and so there are no plans at this time to close other public schools

Re: Scary Stuff---Schools Closed

that is really scary