Gastrointestinal Illness Sickens 130 Students at Las Vegas School
Local health officials are investigating the cause of the outbreak in which many students experienced “projectile vomiting.”
Las Vegas, Nevada – A gastrointestinal illness (GI) outbreak impacted an estimated 130 students at Wayne N. Tanaka Elementary School on January 27, and parents say they still haven’t received information from school district officials about what actually happened.
A letter to parents from local health officials says the department is investigating the cause of the outbreak in which many students experienced “projectile vomiting,” reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Some parents are speculating that contaminated school cafeteria food is responsible for the GI virus outbreak, reports 8NewsNow. These kinds of bugs are commonly spread by eating, drinking, or touching contaminated food or surfaces.
To prevent the spread of GI viruses, which are easily spread from person to person, hard, non-porous surfaces should be cleaned and disinfected with bleach. Regular and frequent handwashing is also highly recommended. Clark County School District (CCSD) says Wayne N. Tanaka Elementary School has been thoroughly cleaned and staff is reinforcing “good hygiene practices on campus.”
School officials urged students to stay home if they are experiencing any GI symptoms.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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