Duke TIP Cancels Summer Session Following Flu Outbreak
Officials cancel program after more than 25 of the 260 participating students tested positive for flu or reported flu symptoms. No students were hospitalized.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University’s Talent Identification Program (TIP) canceled the second of its two summer sessions on Duke’s East Campus Wednesday after more than 25 of the 260 participating students tested positive for flu or reported flu symptoms over the previous two days.
All of the cases are mild to moderate, consistent with normal seasonal flu, and no student has been hospitalized. The three-week session for academically gifted teenagers had been scheduled to continue until Aug. 1.
“Although none of the students seems to be in any serious danger, we decided to err on the side of caution and cancel the program to reduce the accelerating risk of infection among the other participants,” said Martha Putallaz, Duke TIP’s executive director. “We made this decision in close consultation with Duke experts on infectious disease and student health, as well as with campus officials. The health and safety of our students is our highest priority.”
Duke TIP has contacted the families of all the students and asked them to pick up their children immediately. Families whose children have the flu are being asked to keep them away from public places until they are no longer infectious, following the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sick students are being kept in isolation and cared for by the program, in coordination with Duke’s health system, until their families arrive.
This is the first time in Duke TIP’s 29-year history that it has had to discontinue the operation of a site before its scheduled conclusion. Duke TIP said it will provide prorated refunds to the families.
Duke TIP is a non-profit educational organization that identifies academically gifted students and provides them with innovative programming to support their development. Through its summer courses on the Duke campus and other programs, it has served 2 million students since 1980.
Other Duke summer programs located in other parts of the campus, including Duke TIP’s West Campus programs, are continuing as scheduled, with program administrators keeping a close watch on the health of their participants and others. Several programs, such as those of the American Dance Festival and Duke Youth Programs, are scheduled to end this weekend.
“We’ve increased surveillance for influenza infections in our community throughout the summer,” said Dr. Christopher Woods, a Duke infectious disease expert and part of the medical team advising the programs. “The CDC has been reporting outbreaks of influenza at summer camps across the country, and we diagnosed the infection in a number of campers at Duke a few weeks ago. We’re working with the students, their families, counselors and the health system to make sure everyone understands the importance of continued preventive measures. Due to the increasing number of cases on campus in the past few days, we recommended ending the program early.”
