Norovirus Season Kicks Off At Virginia Public School
An elementary school in Colonial Heights, VA is open again after an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness
forced officials to shut it down.
About 150 students at Tussing Elementary School reported norovirus symptoms of stomach pains, nausea and vomiting last week.
Tussing Elementary has a student population of more than 600. The cause of the outbreak and how it was spread is unknown.
Principal David K. Staples wrote a letter to parents saying the closure "gives us an opportunity to thoroughly clean all surfaces in the school and apply all of our internal procedures to assure the cleanliness of the school."
Staples also said food-safety procedures and cafeteria protocols are also being reviewed.
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As of 4:00 p.m. Friday a total of 192 patients have sought medical treatment for symptoms related to norovirus. While the vast majority of these individuals remain undergraduate students, for the first time today we became aware of that 2 employees who had been helping respond to students became ill.
preliminary investigation found a norovirus to be the cause of campus illness, that led to 1 to 2 days of vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea. Grant says the initial findings won't be confirmed until test results are returned from the county health department in two to three weeks.