Fw: rash outbreaks at school-- Congress told to act

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

Wrom: YFMYXOEAIJJPHSCRTNHGSWZI

Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 7:43 PM

Subject: rash outbreaks at school-- Congress told to act

: A national coalition of seven groups is asking Congress to hear from

federal

: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Center for Environmental Health

on

: its national investigation of blistering rash outbreaks that have closed

: schools in 20 states and affected over 1,000 students. The group is also

: calling for the development of baseline data on student health and for

pupil

: health tracking.

:

: Three public schools in NYS affected, in Argyle, Brooklyn, and Queens, NY.

: Over 58 schools in PA affected; half dozen or more in VA and Oregon.

:

: L. Barnett, MBA, Executive Director

: Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

: 773 Madison Avenue

: Albany, NY 12208

: 518-462-0632

: www.healthyschools.org

: ...environmentally healthy schools for students, for personnel, and for

: communities, through research, information, education, and advocacy....

Ask

: our Healthy Kids/Healthy Schools Clearinghouse to help you.

:

AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION

BEYOND PESTICIDES

CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH COALITION,

HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK,

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL NURSES,

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL,

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

PRESS RELEASE: 8 AM, Thursday, March 21, 2002

For more information:

Barnett, Executive Director, HSN, 518.434.9170

CONGRESS ASKED TO HOLD HEARING ON

CDC's SCHOOL RASH INVESTIGATION

(Albany, NY and Washington, DC, March 21) Seven national organizations

involved in children's environmental health issues have asked Congress today

to hear a full report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

on its investigation of a recent outbreak of rashes among school children

and to support a program to track student health and injury at school. With

a mysterious outbreak of apparently noncontagious rashes among students that

has closed schools in more than 15 states, and given the new threats to

domestic security, the group expressed concern over the lack of any tracking

system or baseline data on student environmental health. The groups include

American Public Health Association, Beyond Pesticides, Healthy Schools

Network, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Association of School

Nurses, Children's Environmental Health Network, and Physicians for Social

Responsibility.

In a coalition letter to J. , MD, MPH, director of the

National Center for Environmental Health at CDC, the organizations said that

baseline information about children's environmental health at school must be

developed and a tracking system established as part of the larger national

health tracking system so that appropriate and effective prevention and

early intervention methods can be devised. They also asked CDC to

immediately report to Congress, first, on the procedures and findings of the

student rash investigation, and, second, on how any future outbreaks can be

monitored in a timely fashion. Congress is being urged to support a

multi-agency plan to track pupil illness and injury and to ensure that these

agencies, including CDC, have adequate resources to properly undertake this

task. Last week, schools in two more jurisdictions were reported as having

similar outbreaks: Brooklyn, NY and Keyser, WV.

" We commend CDC for its commitment to investigate the cause of rashes that

have broken out in more than 1,000 students in 18 states, closed scores of

schools, and affected a good number of adults, " said Barnett,

executive director of the Healthy Schools Network Inc. in Albany, N.Y. " But

this and any future investigations will be hampered until we have a national

system to track and to create baseline data for comparison, as well as study

children's environmental exposures in schools. " As just one related step,

the US Department of Education is required under " No Child Left Behind Act

of 2001 " to carry out a national priority study and report to Congress on

the effects of decayed school buildings on child health and learning.

Added M. , M.D., M.P.H., senior scientist for the Natural

Resources Defense Council in San Francisco, Calif., " The school system that

tracks our children's learning should also track their health. Every medical

provider knows that children who are sick, especially with chronic illnesses

such as asthma or allergic reactions, have trouble concentrating in school.

Let's make the link between health and education by keeping tabs on the

health of school children. "

CDC recently released the report, " Rashes Among Schoolchildren-14 states,

October 4, 2001 to February 27, 2002. " It calls for health-care providers

and local school officials to share information with the CDC about reported

cases. In addition, CDC has developed and disseminated a document with

suggested approaches for investigating reports of rashes among groups of

schoolchildren.

The Healthy Schools Network is a New York State-based environmental health

research, information and advocacy group that is also coordinating a

national coalition to advance the environmental health of children and

adults in schools. The Network's expertise is increasingly on call as

parents, school personnel, and more state-based groups are focusing on

children's exposures and indoor environments. Last year, the Network and

more than 70 of its national and state partners in environment, public

health, education, and labor helped win $1.2 billion in federal funds for

school health and safety repairs. Recently the coalition secured a new

provision in " Leave No Child Behind Act of 2001 " requiring the USD Education

to study the effects of decayed buildings on child health and learning, and

to set up state-based information and incentive programs for " high

performance " school facilities.

HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK, INC.

773 MADISON, ALBANY, NY 12208

www.healthyschools.org

518.462.0632

AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION

BEYOND PESTICIDES

CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NETWORK

HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL NURSES

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Members of Congress

cc: Staff on Children, Health, Environment, and Education Issues

Date: March 21, 2002

Re: Rashes Among Students Close Schools in More Than 15 States

We are writing to urge you to call upon the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, Center for Environmental Health, to report to you on the

procedures and results of its investigation into the outbreak of apparently

noncontagious rashes among schoolchildren that have closed schools in more

than 15 states. Of particular concern in this investigation are the steps

that local investigators took to evaluate the possibility of chemical,

physical, or biological agents.

We are especially concerned that this and future investigations of threats

to child environmental health and safety at school will be hampered by the

lack of baseline data. Thus, we urge you to ask as well on how the federal

agencies participating in the President's Interagency Task Force on the

Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks

would coordinate the development of and implement a plan to monitor pupil

illness and injury, as part of the larger national health tracking system.

Your support for CDC and other agencies involved in setting up a health

tracking system that establishes baseline data and monitors child health is

crucial.

Our letter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is attached, as is

the timely response from CDC.

Thank you for your consideration of this request and for your continuing

support of CDC's work, especially since 9/11.

For more information:

Barnett, Executive Director

Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

773 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY 12208

518.462.0632

Attachment-- LETTER FROM CDC TO COALITION, 3/12/02:

March 12, 2002

L. Barnett, MBA, Executive Director

Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

773 Madison Avenue

Albany, New York 12208

Dear Ms. Barnett:

Thank you for your email of March 6, 2002 highlighting concerns

about the recent reports of rash among school-aged children. It is good to

know that Healthy Schools Network and your partner organizations support our

efforts to work with state and local health departments, as well as school

officials, to determine if the different communities are experiencing a

common illness.

As you are already aware, we are committed to continue monitoring

reports of rashes among school children. The CDC team is actively working

with state and local health and school officials to determine if affected

children within and between schools have developed rash as a result of a

common etiology. We have colleagues from occupational health,

epidemiology, infectious disease as well as environmental health working on

this.

We also recognize that state and local health and education

departments and schools may have limited resources for investigating the

reports of rash illness. CDC has developed and distributed a document with

suggested approaches for investigating reports of rash illness among groups

of school children, including the importance of having a dermatologist

examine these children. As noted in the document, the presence of

pesticides and other contaminants should be considered as part of an

environmental assessment. State health department personnel are also aware

of the availability and willingness of CDC staff to provide on-site

assistance, if needed.

With respect to identifying other groups of school children and/or

adults with rashes who should be considered as part of the investigations,

we were already aware of most of the incidents you identified from your

files. For the three situations that we did not know of, we will contact

the health department to obtain the relevant information. In addition, we

are encouraging state and local health departments to follow-up with

individuals who report similar rashes to see if they have a direct or

indirect association with affected school children.

Again, I thank you for your support, and for your own efforts to

ensure healthy school environments for our nation's children.

Sincerely,

//signed//

J. , M.D., M.P.H., Director

National Center for Environmental Health

Attachment-- LETTER FROM COALITION TO CDC, 3/6/02:

HEALTHY SCHOOLS NETWORK, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, BEYOND

PESTICIDES, PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH

ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL NURSES

J. , MD, MPH, Director

National Center for Environmental Health

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

4770 Buford Highway, NE (F29)

Atlanta, GA 30341-3724 March 6, 2002

RE: School Rashes Report and Recommendations to Congress on Pupil Health

Tracking

Dear Dr. :

We are writing to commend you for your continued commitment to investigate

the cause of rashes that have broken out in students in schools in more than

fourteen states. Scores of schools have been closed, and over 1,000 students

and a good number of adults affected. We understand that CDC is conducting

its investigation in cooperation with state and local authorities.

We are, however, concerned about the limited resources available to state

and communities for these purposes and urge that CDC ensure that the

investigations carried out are systematic and comprehensive. To support and

ensure the quality of the local investigations, CDC should encourage its own

as well as state and local investigators to work directly with local

pediatricians and dermatologists.

We also urge that CDC report to Congress, first, on the procedures and

findings of the investigation, and, second, on how any future outbreaks can

be monitored in a timely fashion.

Because the affected individuals do not present with fevers and their rashes

have not spread to family members at home, we also urge you to ensure that

special efforts are taken by skilled on-site investigators to consider

chemical and physical agents present in affected schools.

There may be other school and community outbreaks involving students that

should be included the investigation. A review of Healthy Schools Network's

files indicates other cases that could be included are: the Argyle, NY

school which had a blistering rash event in the late fall of 2001 affecting

two individuals and attributed to an unidentified powder that spilled from

an envelope; the Queens, NY school (already reported) to confirm whether the

responding paramedics were also affected, as reported by the New York Times,

and if so how; the Saxe Gotha Elementary School in South Carolina whose

outbreak developed in fall of 2000 and was sustained for three months; the

Sweetwater County Fair outbreak affecting 30 people in Wyoming, August 2001;

and the rashes attributed to " UV radiation " from a broken light fixture in a

school gym in North Carolina, reported in October 2001. CDC should also

cooperate with Canadian authorities in Barrie, Ontario to determine if the

spring 2001school rash outbreak was similar.

We understand that the investigation will be hampered by the lack of a

national system of tracking pupil health or injury at school, and

consequently the lack of any baseline data for comparison. Additionally

impeding school investigations are two other factors: no state mandates

school nurse staff positions and no state has its own required pupil illness

and injury reporting system in place.

Given the unprecedented nature of recent domestic security events, and this

outbreak of still unknown causes affecting so many children in so many

disparate locations, and the lack of baseline data, we strongly recommend

that CDC propose a system to track pupil illness and injury. Baseline

information about children's environmental health at school must be

developed and a tracking system established so that appropriate and

effective prevention and early intervention methods can be devised.

Sincerely,

American Public Health Association

Beyond Pesticides

Healthy Schools Network

Natural Resources Defense Council

Physicians for Social Responsibility

National Association of School Nurses

Reply to:

L. Barnett, Executive Director

Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

773 Madison Avenue

Albany, NY 12208

519-462-0632

www.healthyschools.org