LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Health officials have specified the number of norovirus cases that led to a first-reported mass-vomiting episode at a Spring Valley elementary school.
Two weeks ago, an 8 News Now source close to Wayne N Tanaka Elementary School said roughly 130 students were projectile vomiting during school on Friday, Jan. 27 which sent several students home. CCSD sent parents a letter the same day acknowledging the incident and that the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) was investigating it.
Thursday evening, SNHD reported two confirmed cases through laboratory testing and 69 additional probable cases through interviews.
CCSD said the school has a 93% attendance rate on average, compared to the 84% and 78% rates they recorded on Friday, Jan. 27, and Monday, Jan. 30.
Tuesday, SNHD revealed preliminary findings that norovirus, which provokes vomiting and diarrhea, likely caused it.
The press release stated, “It can spread through direct contact with an infected person, by consuming food or water that has been contaminated, or by people touching contaminated surfaces and then putting their unwashed hands in their mouths.”
Briana Aguilar said her five-year-old daughter brought it home from Tanaka.
“It was pretty bad, like, projectile vomit,” Aguilar said outside the school Thursday morning, pushing her one-year-old son in a stroller. “Aches in the stomach, which were severe.”
The virus was then spread along to the entire family, including her infant son, she said.
“It was in line. It was my daughter, my son, me, and then my husband,” Aguilar said. “Then, after we had all been relieved from it, then (the school) sent out an email saying to watch out for these symptoms. But, it was already too late because we had all gotten it.”
But, second-grade teacher Julie Quinn gives a different account of what she saw outside the school’s health office that day, compared to what parents call a throw-up “apocalypse.”
“There was probably ten to twelve chairs at most in the hallway,” Quinn said in a nearby park, recounting the day. “It was off the charts, unusual, I’ve never seen that in my life. Was I worried? No. But we handled it, and my boss handled it well.”
Most questions 8 News Now asked to CCSD clarifying these numbers were directed to the health district.
So, 8 News Now asked SNHD Communicable Disease Supervisor Haley Blake to elaborate on the investigation. Similarly, she was unable to provide specific information apart from what was revealed on Tuesday. The confirmed and probable case numbers came after this report.
Speaking generally about outbreaks of this sort, she added that “they are not uncommon in school settings” and that “Norovirus is actually one of the leading causes of illness and outbreaks from contaminated food.” They test to confirm infection through stool samples, though she could not confirm to who they sent the stool samples in this investigation.
While the district awaits further test results, Blake said they have not ruled out or honed in on parent speculations that infected cafeteria food sparked the infections.
“One person may have eaten the contaminated food, and then they became ill, and then people may have inadvertently been exposed to that vomit. Then, 12 hours to 48 hours later, then now they are sick,” Blake said during a virtual interview Thursday afternoon.
When 8 News Now asked CCSD what is being done to prevent future outbreak situations of this sort, they instead said that the school underwent a deep cleaning following the mass-vomiting episode.
