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RateFlu-like ailment suspends C-A sports
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| Athletic Director Dennis Proper said he expects C-A to host Johnstown today for boys’ and girls’ soccer sectionals. H-CN File Photo |
Soccer coach confident games will go on today
By Colin DeVries
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
COXSACKIE — Parents and community members continue to express alarm over the high rate of absenteeism at the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District due to flu-like illness.
The high rate of absentees, with unofficial reports exceeding 140 students on a single day, even resulted in suspending athletic games on Friday and Monday.
Boys’ soccer coach Curt Wilkinson, who also teaches at Coxsackie-Athens Middle School, said he was also absent after catching what health officials are calling ILI — or influenza-like illness.
“There are no confirmed cases of H1N1,” said Marie Ostoyich, director of Greene County Public Health and Nursing Service.
Though this isolated epidemic is not yet connected with the deadly swine flu pandemic — which resulted in 9,079 hospitalizations and 593 deaths from mid-April to Aug. 30 in the U.S. this year, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention — parents and students are still being warned to be cautious and exercise good hygiene.
Washing hands after coughing or sneezing, Ostoyich urged, is critical.
Last week, C-A Superintendent Dr. Earle Gregory sent a letter home to parents acknowledging the high rate of absentees, while also directing concerned parents to check the district Web site for information on prevention: www.coxsackie-athens.com.
The athletic program, meanwhile, continues according to the district’s Athletic Director Dennis Proper.
“We’re not canceling anything,” he said Tuesday, expecting to host Johnstown today for boys’ and girls’ soccer sectionals.
Monday, however, neither the boys’ junior varsity nor varsity soccer teams had enough players to play Chatham.
Coxsackie Town Supervisor Alex Betke’s 12-year-old son, who plays on the soccer team, had been ill from last Wednesday until Tuesday but has fully recovered.
“The doctor wouldn’t test him for H1N1,” said Betke, “they just said, ‘We’re going to treat him like the flu right now and we’re going to figure out if it worsens.’”
While the fever ran high, topping out at a 103 degrees, his condition improved after some rest and a little tender, loving care.
The doctor told Betke that if everyone who came in with ILI was tested for H1N1 it would take several days to get the results back from the lab, at which point symptoms may have subsided.
Ostoyich said that testing is only being done in severe cases that result in hospitalization. It was unknown how many hospitalizations there were since last week but no cases have tested positive for H1N1.
Ostoyich also said other school districts in the region had experience increased absenteeism due to ILI.
The Greenville High School also suffered high absentee rates and had to cancel a girls soccer game after nine varsity players and five junior varsity players fell ill.
Supplies of the H1N1 vaccine are beginning to trickle into the county, though. On Monday, H1N1 vaccines were administered to 97 emergency medical personnel and high-risk target groups, including pregnant women, at Greene County Emergency Operations Center in Cairo.
Further vaccinations will be offered in the near future.
Visit the CDC’s Web site dedicated to H1N1 for updates on supply and how to prevent the illness: www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu. There is also information available by phone at the Greene County Public Health Nursing Service, 719-3600.
To reach reporter Colin DeVries, please call 518-943-2100, ext. 3325, or e-mail cdevries@thedailymail.net.
The high rate of absentees, with unofficial reports exceeding 140 students on a single day, even resulted in suspending athletic games on Friday and Monday.
Boys’ soccer coach Curt Wilkinson, who also teaches at Coxsackie-Athens Middle School, said he was also absent after catching what health officials are calling ILI — or influenza-like illness.
“There are no confirmed cases of H1N1,” said Marie Ostoyich, director of Greene County Public Health and Nursing Service.
Though this isolated epidemic is not yet connected with the deadly swine flu pandemic — which resulted in 9,079 hospitalizations and 593 deaths from mid-April to Aug. 30 in the U.S. this year, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention — parents and students are still being warned to be cautious and exercise good hygiene.
Washing hands after coughing or sneezing, Ostoyich urged, is critical.
Last week, C-A Superintendent Dr. Earle Gregory sent a letter home to parents acknowledging the high rate of absentees, while also directing concerned parents to check the district Web site for information on prevention: www.coxsackie-athens.com.
The athletic program, meanwhile, continues according to the district’s Athletic Director Dennis Proper.
“We’re not canceling anything,” he said Tuesday, expecting to host Johnstown today for boys’ and girls’ soccer sectionals.
Monday, however, neither the boys’ junior varsity nor varsity soccer teams had enough players to play Chatham.
Coxsackie Town Supervisor Alex Betke’s 12-year-old son, who plays on the soccer team, had been ill from last Wednesday until Tuesday but has fully recovered.
“The doctor wouldn’t test him for H1N1,” said Betke, “they just said, ‘We’re going to treat him like the flu right now and we’re going to figure out if it worsens.’”
While the fever ran high, topping out at a 103 degrees, his condition improved after some rest and a little tender, loving care.
The doctor told Betke that if everyone who came in with ILI was tested for H1N1 it would take several days to get the results back from the lab, at which point symptoms may have subsided.
Ostoyich said that testing is only being done in severe cases that result in hospitalization. It was unknown how many hospitalizations there were since last week but no cases have tested positive for H1N1.
Ostoyich also said other school districts in the region had experience increased absenteeism due to ILI.
The Greenville High School also suffered high absentee rates and had to cancel a girls soccer game after nine varsity players and five junior varsity players fell ill.
Supplies of the H1N1 vaccine are beginning to trickle into the county, though. On Monday, H1N1 vaccines were administered to 97 emergency medical personnel and high-risk target groups, including pregnant women, at Greene County Emergency Operations Center in Cairo.
Further vaccinations will be offered in the near future.
Visit the CDC’s Web site dedicated to H1N1 for updates on supply and how to prevent the illness: www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu. There is also information available by phone at the Greene County Public Health Nursing Service, 719-3600.
To reach reporter Colin DeVries, please call 518-943-2100, ext. 3325, or e-mail cdevries@thedailymail.net.
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