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    Hiking Trail in Hawaii Closes After Norovirus Outbreak

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    Four people tested positive for the virus, which causes a highly contagious gastrointestinal illness, officials said. The trail was recommended to remain closed until at least Sept. 19.A popular hiking trail on the island of Kauai in Hawaii was closed this week after more than three dozen people fell ill in what officials said was a “rare occurrence” of the highly contagious norovirus.The Kalalau Trail, a 22-mile round-trip stretch within the Napali Coast State Wilderness Park, was recommended to remain closed until at least Sept. 19 while Department of Health officials assessed the ongoing risk of transmission and as stations along the trail were cleaned and disinfected.The Health Department received reports of illness from at least 37 hikers and campers over the last several weeks, though the actual number is expected to be higher, officials said.“This is a very concerning and rare occurrence, magnified by the extreme remote nature of the Kalalau Valley,” Curt Cottrell, an administrator for state parks, said in a statement.The trail was closed on Wednesday after health officials received numerous reports of gastrointestinal illnesses from hikers, and on Thursday the Health Department said that test results from four patients confirmed that they had contracted norovirus.The state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a statement that dozens of backpackers along the trail had reported gastrointestinal illness, and that one person had been evacuated but no one had been hospitalized.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      5 Things School Nurses Say Parents Are Doing Wrong

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      The stalwarts of children’s health shared their tips and gripes.Carren Teitelbaum, a school nurse in Ramapo, N.Y., once had a student stumble into her office with a 102 degree fever. Mrs. Teitelbaum called his mother, who said she’d given her son Tylenol that had likely worn off and that she could come give him more.“That kind of thing is extremely frustrating,” Mrs. Teitelbaum said. “And it’s not an isolated incident.”Most parents are aware that fevers are a symptom of communicable viruses, and it’s best to keep their children home when they have one. But on short notice, many parents can’t stay home from work, leaving school nurses to care for sick and contagious children.Sending feverish kids to school is just one miscalculation school nurses say parents make. The New York Times spoke with 14 school nurses across the United States who shared other common mistakes. “Some of these things are common sense,” said Mrs. Teitelbaum, “but I find that what makes sense for me may not make sense for somebody else.”They leave the school nurse in the dark.Parents might inform a new teacher about their child’s health but many forget to tell the school nurse, Mrs. Teitelbaum said.Last year, a student with a bad headache visited Anna Etlinger, a school nurse in Cook County, Ill. After calling the boy’s mother, Mrs. Etlinger learned he experiences migraines that cause vomiting without medicine. But public school nurses generally can’t administer most medications without parental consent and permission from a licensed health care provider.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More