My daughter has a field trip tomorrow to see a play at Goucher College. There was a piece on our local news last Friday about a terrible outbreak of gastroenteritis on campus. So many kids were sick and the dorms were overcrowded with sick kids. Ten actually were admitted to the hospital for dehydration. No one knew what it was and the Health Department was called in for investigation. There was also an article in the Baltimore Sun over the weekend about it, which reiterated the same information from the television news. It was stressed by both sources that handwashing was crucial for the spreading to stop and that students were told not to return to class until they were truly well for two full days. Many activities and events were canceled.
I realize that the media blows things out of proportion, so I decided to call the college's nurse. She told me that the outbreak began suddenly on February 22th and peaked last Friday. While it is on the "downswing," she is still seeing a great deal of it. I told her that I was concerned about letting my daugher come ot the school. She chuckled and said if it was her daughter, she would let the child go on the trip. She also noted that "it," meaning the sv,is going around "all the schools" so my daughter (and son) could get it that way.
My rational mind tells me that she is right. On the other hand, I quite don't know what to believe. Everyone has their own agenda. The media is hyped. The school nurse does not want to cause alarm. The entire third grade of my daughter's school is going so someone is bound to get it and bring it back. Once that happens mydaughter will be exposed anyway.
I wrote a note to her teacher this morning stating that my daughter would not be going and I explained why. Until this morning there had been no disclosure abut what was causing the illness and I explained that until I knew for certain what it was I was not sending her. This afternoon, the results have been made public - Norwalk.
What would you do?
Stella