Wisconsin elementary school closes amid norovirus outbreak that left nearly a THIRD of its students too sick to come to class
- Johnson Creek Elementary School in Wisconsin was closed on Friday
- Norovirus has been spreading around the school and on Thursday 68 students – 30% of the entire student body – called out sick
- The common ‘winter vomiting bug’ causes upset stomachs, nausea and diarrhea
- School officials said the germs were ‘pushing the limits of what they can clean up during a school day’ and promised a deep clean over the weekend
A Wisconsin elementary school has shut down temporarily, officials said Friday after nearly a third of its student body called out sick with norovirus – a common cause of the stomach ‘flu’ – on Thursday.
A total of 68 students at Johnson Creek Elementary School, in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, missed school due to nausea, diarrhea and vomiting from the common bug.
School officials said disinfecting the classrooms and facilities the sick students had come into contact with was ‘pushing the limits of what we can handle to clean up during a school day.’
Norovirus is almost never life-threatening in people with healthy immune systems, but the illness is miserable for those suffering, and highly contagious.
After 68 children, or 30% of the student body, called out of school sick with norovirus on Thursday, school officials shut down the elementary school for deep cleaning on Friday
‘We had an inordinate number of students call in sick,’ the school’s district Superintendent Michael Garvey told outlet WKOW of Thursday’s attendance.
People with norovirus shed up to billions of particles of the bug.
Others can easily and instantaneously pick it up if they touch a contaminated surface and then their mouths, or by sharing food or drinks that have come into contact with the virus.
Simply wiping down surfaces with soap and water or even alcohol-based disinfectants or hand sanitizer.
To kill particles of the stubborn virus, the CDC recommends using chlorine bleach or hydrogen peroxide.
Instead of the standard cleaning regimen, Garvey said Johnson Creek will do a deep clean while students, faculty and staff are at home recuperating or staying clear of the virus.
‘They’ll bring a crew of at least eight to 10 people, and they will go from room to room, cleaning all the flat surfaces, all the items that students handle frequently; all the doorknobs,’ said Garvey.
Contagious infections spread easily among young children, whose immune systems may not be quite as fully developed and whose hygiene practices tend not to be up to adult snuff.
Casually referred to as the ‘winter vomiting bug,’ there are between 19 and 21 million cases of stomach illness caused by norovirus each year.
Between 1.7 and 1.9 million people have to go to the doctor for the illness each year and 400,000 people land in the ER, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most of those visiting the ER are children.
Because of the density of children and their close contact, norovirus outbreaks are not uncommon at schools.
In November, one of the largest school districts in Colorado, Mesa County Valley District 51, had to shut down temporarily, sending more than 22,000 students home early for an extended Thanksgiving break.
Illnesses from norovirus only tend to last one to three days according to the Mayo Clinic. It is unclear if the school plans to reopen on Monday.