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Razor blades in apples. Arsenic in candy. And … H1N1?
Urban-legend evils lurking in Halloween treat bags have taken new form this fall as parents are taking precautions to protect their families from the real threat of swine flu.
Victoria Pettit, a mother of seven from Churubusco, worries that some are taking the germ vigilance too far, like the mother and child she saw at the Columbia City Walmart recently wearing surgical masks.
"It’s a little scary, but, I’m sorry, if you’re gonna get it, you’re gonna get it," Pettit said, "unless you live in a bubble."
Pettit’s children, ages 3 to 19, haven’t been vaccinated. The vaccine wasn’t convenient enough to make it worth the time and effort, in Pettit’s opinion.
But she says the children will be allowed to trick or treat Saturday to their hearts’ content.
Across northeast Indiana, parents are making judgment calls about whether to let their children trick or treat or attend Halloween gatherings. Some places are making the decision for them by canceling events.
That idea occurred to Rick Hower, superintendent of the Auburn Parks and Recreation Department, especially when another well-attended annual Halloween event in Auburn was canceled.
But even as H1N1 is taking its toll in DeKalb County’s schools, the parks department’s annual Halloween Walk at Eckhart Park in Auburn began Oct. 22 and ran through Sunday.
The event will resume from 7 to 9 p.m. today through Saturday.
Hand sanitizer will be available at all activities, which include a straw maze and crafts, and all the candy provided for children is wrapped, Hower said.
"We decided that people can just use their own judgment," he said. "We just more or less decided to leave it to the parents."
And the parents have been coming. More than 900 people passed through the park last weekend, Hower said.
School administrators are keeping close tabs on attendance, not only to decide whether school should be canceled but whether it’s prudent to gather kids for traditional Halloween events.
Steve Teders, principal at James R. Watson Elementary School in Auburn, said he hasn’t heard too much from parents concerned about Halloween merriment spreading germs.
The school’s absentee rate has hovered near 10 percent.
"Either we’re hanging on well, or the worst is still to come," Teders said.
The same monitoring is occurring at Fort Wayne Community Schools, where Lindley Elementary canceled an after-school fall carnival last week because of high absentee rates.
At the Harris Elementary costume parade, children will receive candy but will have to wait to eat it until they take it home, FWCS spokeswoman Krista Stockman said.
"That is a change this year, because they want to make sure that kids aren’t sharing germs," she said.
The district has asked principals to use their judgment in making decisions on group activities, especially those outside school hours or that would bring groups of students together who typically aren’t, Stockman said.
Germs can stay on surfaces – whether a miniature candy bar, a pen or a doorknob – for hours, putting the risk for trick-or-treating about the same as other daily activities, said John Silcox, spokesman for the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health.
That same common-sense approach is what mother Janis Strong of Auburn will apply to her children’s Halloween activities.
Trick-or-treating won’t be off-limits to her 2- and 4-year-olds because of H1N1, even though they haven’t been vaccinated, she said.
"We’re just trying to be vigilant about hand-washing," she said.
