01 March 2024 , 17:44
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Over 1,200 students were absent from school on Wednesday after a highly contagious gastrointestinal illness swept through an entire Alabama school district, leaving families worried and education at a standstill.
More than 600 of the infected children came from the same school, which was forced to close through the remainder of the week so that the state Department of Public Health could investigate how the virus overtook its student body. “Due to the amount of staff and students who are absent, the number who are experiencing symptoms, and in an effort to help contain the contagion, we unfortunately need to shut the building down,” Baldwin County Public Schools Superintendent Eddie Tyler wrote in a letter to parents. “While out, we will be conducting a deep cleaning of the school so when students return next week, it will be sanitized to the fullest extent.”
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Schools have been left near empty (wkrg)Health officials have not publically declared what virus has run rampant through the hallways of at least four district schools, referring to it only as a “gastrointestinal outbreak," but the sickness continues to spread. Students and staff alike have suffered nausea and vomiting, and the impacts of the illness have been felt fast.
Norovirus is a highly contagious and debilitating virus that causes vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Easily spread through food and water, and on infected surfaces, anyone can be impacted by the illness which tends to only last a couple of days.
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Fairhope West Elementary was hit especially hard, school sources told News 5, with a whopping two dozen students of the 866-strong body called out sick on Tuesday, a number which quickly grew. On Wednesday, only 145 students and half the faculty showed up to class, the school like a ghost town.
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The virus is highly contagious (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Hundreds of other students missed class on Wednesday at another nearby elementary school, as well as a middle school and high school for a total of 1,231 students as the virus continues to wreak havoc. Some schools are asking parents to keep their children home if possible out of fear of the outbreak getting worse.
Baldwin County school officials are treating it as norovirus despite the fact it hasn't been confirmed due to the highly contagious nature of the virus. According to the American Medical Association, there are typically between 19 and 21 million norovirus infections in the U.S. every year. Most of them happen between November and April, with around 109,000 hospitalizations and 900 deaths from the sickness bug.