At summer camps, swine flu isn't taking a vacation

LOVELAND, Colo. — Summer camps are contending with more than bug bites and poison ivy this year: They're on the lookout for swine flu.

While regular flu all but disappears in the summer, swine flu is spreading, and more than 50 summer camps in 20 states have sent kids home early or canceled sessions after suspected outbreaks.

Most cases have been mild, but they have deprived campers and parents of a cherished summertime tradition.

"I'm just laying around, reading some," said a bored Alexandra Ward, 13, who is home this week instead of at an arts camp at the University of Northern Colorado. The two-week camp sent kids home a week early after some came down with flu-like symptoms. Ward and two younger siblings did not get sick.

"It was really disappointing," said Ward, who is missing out on classes in animation and Broadway musicals. "I really love camp."

The swine flu outbreaks are not limited to summer camps. Cases have been reported at office buildings, jails and on church choir trips. Schools have been hit, too, including the Air Force Academy, where at least 68 students have confirmed cases of swine flu, the H1N1 virus.

Scientists do not know for sure why seasonal flu is most common in the winter and why the swine flu took hold in the late spring and early summer. Swine flu is a new virus, and the lack of immunity in young people may have something to do with it, according to Dr. Daniel Jernigan, a flu expert with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At camps, medical staffs are more accustomed to treating minor summertime injuries.

"It was a really tough decision," says Bob Mackle, a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which decided last month to shutter 47 camps in 35 states after swine flu was reported at three of them.

"The kids are disappointed, obviously. This is the biggest thing for them all year," Mackle said.

The American Lung Association followed suit, advising about 50 affiliated camps to close. The decision came after four campers were hospitalized in June when they became sick with swine flu at its affiliated SCAMP Camp in Julian, Calif., about 60 miles northeast of San Diego.

Officials at the CDC say at least 50 camps have closed sessions or sent campers home early this summer.