Flu fears cancel MDA camps

Camp Maria was set to host one this week

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

After witnessing 11 swine flu outbreaks at 33 of its summer camps this year, MDA pulled the plug on the rest of its camps, including the Leonardtown one set to begin this week, in order to protect its vulnerable members.

"It's just like a punch to the gut," said John Soboleski, director of Camp Maria in Leonardtown. Soboleski and his staff were in high gear Friday afternoon, preparing for the scheduled Sunday arrival of the MDA campers when the bad news arrived.

Soboleski said that MDA's Greenbelt office had to call hundreds of families and deliver the news.

"Every phone call, they were crying on," Soboleski said. "It was like calling those kids on Dec. 24 and telling them there is no Christmas coming."

MDA's annual summer camps are highly anticipated events in the muscular dystrophy community. Campers look forward to the events as an opportunity to socialize with peers who face the same challenges they do. Parents view the camps as a relaxing reprieve from the constant challenge of protecting and caring for their fragile children.

"We know how much summer camp means to [MDA members], who look forward to this happy week all year long," said Gerald C. Weinberg, MDA president and CEO, in a prepared statement. "But with 11 confirmed cases and six suspected cases in three states, we can't risk the health of the children who would be attending the camps. We have an obligation to the parents of these children to ensure that safety is our top priority."

While 11 swine flu outbreaks out of 1,800 camp attendees so far might not derail an event for healthy children, the stakes are much higher for muscular dystrophy patients, for whom every common cold is a potential case of pneumonia.

Six suspected cases have been reported at the MDA Summer Camp in Worcester, Pa., which ended last week. One child from the Pennsylvania camp was hospitalized. Another child, who attended camp in Utah, was hospitalized, treated and released. In Minnesota, 10 cases of swine flu were reported after camp ended there June 12.

"They have suppressed immune systems and suppressed lung capacity," Soboleski said of muscular dystrophy patients. "It's just not worth taking the chance."

On Friday, MDA said it conferred with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, who concurred with MDA's decision to cancel the camps. MDA then mobilized its entire staff nationwide Friday to notify family members and volunteer counselors of the decision.

Janet Nagle, director of MDA Southern Maryland, said that the families she spoke with were "very disappointed."

"The news came down late Friday" while the children were packing for the camp, Nagle said. "It was devastating for these kids."

However, there is always next year. Southern Maryland MDA will still be holding its annual Yard Fair at the Charlotte Hall Farmers Market on Sept. 7 to raise money for next year's camp as well as equipment and medical research for MDA.

The group is currently taking donations of used, but usable, items to sell at the event.

For more information on how to donate to the MDA Yard Fair, visit somdmda.org or call Nagle at 301-884-8195, Jimmy Miller at 301-752-3151 or David Adams at 301-884-2517).

jfriess@somdnews.com