Flu sickened 25 teens and staffers recently at a summer program at Franklin & Marshall College.

The 23 teens, ages 12 to 16, and two staff people were isolated from the program after they suffered flu-like symptoms.

Most of them went home early from the Center for Talented Youth's three-week program for gifted students, which is run by Johns Hopkins University at F&M, said CTY spokesman Charles Beckman.

Some of them likely had the swine flu, a virus that reached pandemic level earlier this summer around the globe. Most cases of swine flu are relatively mild, with hospitalizations or deaths limited to those who have underlying medical conditions.

Of the 25 CTY people with flu-like symptoms, 13 were tested for Type A flu. Five had positive results, Beckman said.

However, none of those people was further tested for swine flu, which is a variant of Type A, Beckman said, because health officials no longer are routinely testing for the virus.

More than 90 percent of the positive Type A tests also have been positive for the swine flu, said Holli Senior, state health department spokeswoman.

State health officials are recommending that doctors presume anyone who tests positive for Type A has the swine flu, Senior said.

Doctors then are urged to treat patients' symptoms with anti-viral medications, if appropriate, or over-the-counter medications, rest and fluids.

F&M workers sanitized all the indoor areas being used by CTY participants according to standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most of the students at the CTY program at F&M are from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, Beckman said. The current session, which concludes at the end of this week, had begun with almost 600 students. Another three-week session will follow.

CTY has had flu outbreaks at some of its other 26 summer program locations across the country. Last week, it suspended its program at Dickinson College in Carlisle after 40 of the 485 participants showed signs of the flu. The precautionary measure was intended to prevent further spread of the illness.

E-mail: cstauffer@lnpnews.com