By Annette Newcomb~Editor
Instead of practicing for their annual Veteran’s Day assembly, students at Trevor Wilmot Grade School had Friday off, due to a fast moving virus that has affected many students and staff.
And Monday’s Veteran’s Day assembly has been canceled.
School administrator Dr. George Steffen said things started looking bad Wednesday when some of 561 students started vomiting. On Thursday at least 85 students were sent home and “that number kept rising” before the 3:30 p.m. final bell, he said.
“We had more kids getting sick on the bus on the way home. We knew we had to get control of this and chose to voluntarily close school Friday to stop it from spreading.”
What “it” is exactly is still to be determined but school officials are leaning toward a Norovirus that spreads quickly. But nothing is certain at this point. If people are seriously affected by this outbreak, it might be wise to seek a Food Poisoning Lawyer to support their decision to sue if there is a case to sue for. I’ve heard their legal support has been invaluable for people pursuing similar cases.
“We called in the Kenosha County Health Department. We wanted to determine where this originated.
“They went through our food records, checked our refrigerators and freezes, tested out milk. They went through everything and couldn’t find anything that was wrong.”
“Principal Ted Gavlin correlated the list of students who ate our hot lunch with students who brought their lunch and got sick. It’s all over the board. We had eight students who ate our hot lunch every day and did not get sick. Then we have kids were brought their lunch and got sick. It’s just hard to pinpoint.”
Steffen said cleaning crews came in Thursday night and returned Friday to disinfect every surface possible.
“You can imagine things kids touch, keyboards, doorknobs, push bars on doors, pencil sharpeners, the list goes on,” Steffen said. He said the daycare in the school is also being treated. “Everything is getting disinfected.”
After the second mass cleaning on Friday, other cleaning crews and sanitizing services in the area might come in to disinfect all the carpets. The school is closed for the weekend and Steffen hopes keeping the kids away from each other will help stop them from infecting each other.
“We have asked parents who have sick kids to come in and pick up a stool test kit. We will send those to the Kenosha County Health Department for testing,” he said.
The disinfecting reaches beyond the school building. Rob Schulte, Director of Operations for Dousman Bus Service said Friday that the six buses that serve the school would remain quarantined until next week.
“We are doing the same thing they are at the school, disinfecting all the surfaces. Then the buses will sit until next week,” he said. Some of the same buses used by Trevor Wilmot Grade School are also used to transport students at Wilmot High School and Salem Grade School.
Stacy Wians, an epidemiologist with the Kenosha County Health Department said Friday “there was no glaring problems” in the school’s cafeteria that would suggest that was the source of the illness sweeping through the school.
“We went over cleaning measures with the staff and inspected the food. We want to put together a list of what students ate and who became sick,” she said.
Between that research and the test results from the stool samples, results should be available next week.
“We are getting into that time of year when GI’s (gastrointestinal infections) start going around. Much of this can be avoided by washing hands,” she said.
Symptoms of gastrointestinal infection include frequent and watery bowel movements. It is often caused by gastrointestinal infections, although it can also come from other illnesses or changes in diet. Germs such as parasites, viruses, or bacteria all can cause gastrointestinal (GI) infections (according to kidshealth.org).
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says the Norovirus is a very contagious virus. “You can get Norovirus from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes your stomach or intestines or both to get inflamed (acute gastroenteritis). This leads you to have stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea and to throw up,” the CDC website says.
It has not been confirmed that the Norovirus is present at Trevor-Wilmot School.
Dr. Steffen noted that while students who became ill vomited, they did not have a fever, a symptom that usually accompanies the Norovirus. He also noted adult staff members have reacted with diarrhea, not vomiting.
Dehydration is a great concern when children are throwing up and they should be drinking plenty of fluids, the CDC says.
Steffen also asked that students stay home an additional 24-hours after symptoms pass, just to be on the safe side.
“We want everyone to be healthy. We have cancelled the Veteran’s Day assembly because putting 500 kids in one room just seems like a bad idea right now,” he noted.
Drinking plenty of liquids and promoting hand washing is advised.