Media Release

For Immediate Release
Date: January 8, 2006

Update on Department of Health/CDC Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Investigation

• There are no new cases of illness currently under investigation. The Department of Health and the CDC are continuing to look at data from Greenwood Elementary in Warwick ; Oak Haven Elementary and Blackrock Elementary in Coventry ; and the John F. Deering Middle School in West Warwick .
• Following Governor Carcieri’s Executive Order, distribution of 15,000 hand sanitizing gel dispensers has begun to all elementary and secondary schools in the state. About half were delivered as of this morning, the other half should be delivered by the end of the day. Educational posters on hand washing are being delivered with the gel.
• The state has ordered a one month supply of replacement packets of hand sanitizing gel for the dispensers and is currently working on a plan to get them to the schools.
• The Rhode Island Department of Health and the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have issued joint policies on hand sanitization and when to keep children home from school. They can be found at www.health.ri.gov