Parents Risk Lives Over EEE Infections - Eastern Equine Encephalitis

what is more important the lives of children or parents being able to watch children play football some parents believe that this should be a choice left up to them as a disease that during its last appearance killed roughly 50% of those infected has reared its head Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced the first human case of Eastern equine and sephtis since 2020 in Worchester County as a result the towns of Doug Oxford Sutton and Webster are now critical risk for ee ee is a rare but serious illness that can cause severe neurological complications symptoms typically appear 5 to 10 days after having been bitten by an infected mosquito and include high fever stiff neck headache and fatigue there is no treatment for ee in Massachusetts about half of the people identified with EE died from the infection people who survive this disease will often be permanently disabled few people recover completely Health departments for Douglas Oxford Sutton and Webster urge residents in our community to take the following precautions consistent with Massachusetts BPH recommendations apply insect repellent use a repellent with an EPA registered ingredient such as the EP um Permethrin uh all these ones here follow product label instructions carefully be beat should not be used on infants under 2 months old and oil of Lemon Eucalyptus should not be used on children under three avoid of peak mosquito hours the hours from Dust to Dawn are Peak mosquito bik fighting time for many mosquitoes it is strongly recommended to finish outdoor activities before 600 p.m. through September 30th and before 5:00 p.m. October 5th 2024 until the first hard Frost wear protective clothing long sleeves long pants and socks can help prevent mosquito bites when Outdoors mosquito proof your home mosquitoes breed and standing water drain or discard items that collect Waters ofbed tires flower pots and bird baths install or repair window screens now we have a statement here as well this is from a town manager I understand the Board of Health is meeting this evening to discuss and be updated by the director of Public Health regarding Oxford's recent designation as a critical risk Community for Eastern equine en sephtis please be advised a family member of the individual who's Afflicted with the Eastern equine entis virus that was reported by the State Department of Public Health has reached out to my office we have spoken now on two occasions the family member wanted me to inform both the court of health and the broader public their loved one who is still hospitalized in courageously battling this virus actually lives right here in Oxford they want people to be aware this is an extremely serious disease with terrible physical and emotional consequences regardless of the person managed to live after Contracting the virus they want residents to take the public Public Health recommendations regarding prevention measures of contracting his fers seriously they explained their loved one with EE was the one person in the family who were counted through the years they never got bit by mosquitoes but right before they became sympatic they shared they been bit recently bitten the family sincerely hopes by sharing this information with residents both in Oxford and within the other designated critical risk towns they can help raise awareness they believe people should be informed and do their utmost to protect themselves family friends especially where there's an increased risk for transmission and contraction of the virus but it's not just humans because obviously it's called equin additionally my office was informed there was a horse that recently succumbed to the ee virus in the Border community in the neighboring state of Connecticut my office has placed calls in order to confirm this information with the Connecticut Regional Health Department also Massachusetts dph has scheduled an urgent regional meeting for Town and public health officials in the critical and high-risk Zone communities for tomorrow the town of Oxford will be participating in the meeting with other locally designated risk communities and share any new information which is learned from stra state state officials please know in light of the state ee critical risk Zone recommendations I am aware the board may be considering the issue of continued access of town-owned outdoor recreation facilities by private leagues and other organizations should any private recreational League or organization choose to proceed at using the town properties and not follow recommendations of the dph Oxford director of Public Health Andor Oxford Board of Health they will need to complete and file an emic form with the uh provide adequate insurance coverage for both Recreation Commission in the town manager's office so essentially there is a this is a public statement this is also a public statement essentially this is deadly and when it's not deadly it still has major physical and mental consequences now how did I find out about this how did I find out about this being contracted and the fact that it it's happened before with such bad results I found out because parents are upset parents do not want to stop School sport Outdoor School sports that is the same thing we saw during Co right parents are completely okay with their child dying as long as they provide them a little bit of extra entertainment shouldn't be shocking really but it is because it's parents choosing Sports entertainment over their child and you might say well what about the children who want to compete parents should know better simply put parents making the argument well my child wants to do it are making the argument that they should be able to risk their child's life for entertainment for now hopefully this stays a very localized problem but they did mention Connecticut and remember 5 to 10 days well everyone seems fine maybe we should wait and see if it gets worse if you wait and see if it gets worse if you wait how many people are going to be infected let's say infected mosquitoes happen to be around a football field how many people die hey 10 days what if you get a couple games in how many infected is it worth the risk is it worth the risk that your child is going to die to play some football let's be real the answer for a lot of parents is yes because we have so many cases I mean being honest kids that get severe concussion injuries and different Health complications from you know their heads in helmets the parents have kind of already I guess agreed that that level of risk is okay might as well add another one it's it upsets me it upsets me a lot because the thing is as this becomes an issue and if this becomes more widespread and restrictions come into place I get the feeling we're close to November people are going to try to turn this into an election issue and they're going to be like vote for the Republican if you want your child to die from a football game and some idiots will sway their vote now this information I'm posting is obviously only as new as the current post I can read I check to find what I could so if you're wanting more information if it's spread make sure you look up Public Health officials and information and uh hopefully this uh this video here doesn't um doesn't look bad in the future when uh there's an outbreak hopefully that doesn't occur