{"id":23180,"date":"2014-09-17T17:46:23","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T21:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=23180"},"modified":"2014-09-17T17:46:22","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T21:46:22","slug":"ucf-confirms-ev-d68-case-at-unionville-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=23180","title":{"rendered":"UCF confirms EV-D68 case at Unionville High"},"content":{"rendered":"

District steps up cleaning, training to thwart spread of virus<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Kristin Ramsdell<\/strong>, Correspondent, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"UCFLogoWeb\"<\/a>EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District confirmed this week that it has seen its first case of the EV-D68 virus \u2014 a virulent virus that has hospitalized some children in parts of the midwest \u2014 involving a Unionville High School student \u201cwho will remain home until cleared to return.\u201d<\/p>\n

But district officials said that they are taking steps to make sure everything possible is being done to prevent the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n

Dave Listman, the Communications Coordinator for UCFSD, said Wednesday that the district is in contact with the Chester County Department of Health and continues to implement appropriate measures to minimize students\u2019 exposure to the virus. In addition to notifying parents, information regarding the virus, how it spreads, and the importance of hand washing has been disseminated to faculty and staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UHS nurse is stepping up her \u00a0wipe-downs of doorknobs and common surfaces in her office and she is working with building maintenance to increase the maintenance staff’s awareness of the importance of diligence and thoroughness in their nightly clean-up,\u201d Listman said.<\/p>\n

Parents are urged to keep children home from school if they are sick, he added.<\/p>\n

EV-D68 is a rare enterovirus, a respiratory illness with initial outbreaks in Missouri and Illinois, affecting children from six weeks old through age 16. According to the CDC, this particular virus spreads much like the common cold \u2013 through sneezing, coughing, or exposure to contaminated surfaces. Symptoms of infection include fever, cough, runny nose, and sore throat. Young children and those with a history of asthma and\/or wheezing are particularly vulnerable to the more severe complications from the virus. Parents and school officials should be aware of these symptoms and watch for labored breathing, as hospitalization may be required.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Sept. 16, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced three confirmed cases of EV-D68 from children hospitalized in an unnamed Philadelphia hospital. The Department of Health also advised the following to decrease the risk for infection:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after changing diapers.
\n\u2022 Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
\n\u2022 Cough into your sleeve or a tissue.
\n\u2022 Avoid kissing, hugging and sharing cups, eating utensils, etc. with people who are sick.
\n\u2022 Disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as toys and doorknobs, especially if someone is sick.<\/p>\n

For more information, please visit the CDC\u2019s website at http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/non-polio-enterovirus\/index.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

District steps up cleaning, training to thwart spread of virus By Kristin Ramsdell, Correspondent, The Times EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District confirmed this week that it has seen its first case of the EV-D68 virus \u2014 a virulent virus that has hospitalized some children in parts of the midwest \u2014 involving a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[6107,7427,1286],"class_list":["post-23180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-ev-d68","tag-unionville-high-school","tag-unionville-chadds-ford-school-district"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23180"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23182,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23180\/revisions\/23182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}