Norovirus suspected in Annapolis High School illnesses
190 students and staff from the Dearborn Heights, Michigan high school went home sick today after exhibiting symptoms of violent vomiting and diarrhea, according to a My Fox Detroit report.
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Wayne County Health officials say that based on the symptoms and how quickly they appeared, norovirus is the prime suspect.
According to the report, Superintendent Jeff Bartold said he didn’t realize how bad it was until the absences were tallied at the end of the day.
Samples taken from affected students are being collected to be sent to the state lab for confirmation testing. School and health officials are working to determine the source of the outbreak.
According to the superintendent, Annapolis High School will be closed for cleaning and sanitizing and is expected to reopen Monday.
Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause the “stomach flu,” or gastroenteritis in people.
The symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Sometimes people additionally have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness often begins suddenly, and the infected person may feel very sick. In most people, the illness is self-limiting with symptoms lasting for about 1 or 2 days. In general, children experience more vomiting than adults do.
Norovirus is spread person to person particularly in crowded, closed places. Norovirus is typically spread through contaminated food and water, touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus and then putting your hand or fingers in your mouth and close contact with someone who is vomiting or has diarrhea.
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