Collapsed students had no Noro virus

Collapsed students at the Freitaler Gymnasium had no noro virus infection

27.01.2011

For the numerous collapses of students at the Freitaler Gymnasium no virus infection is responsible. This is the result of initial test results at the hospital in Freital. The pupils of the Gymnasium in Freital, Saxony, who had collapsed with nausea, abdominal pain and circulatory problems, did not suffer from an infection. The 16 students, who had to be hospitalized on Tuesday, had no virus or infection, said a spokeswoman for the Freital Hospital on Wednesday to the news agency „DAPD“.

Presumption of a Noro virus infection apparently wrong
On Tuesday, dozens of students from Weissitz Gymnasium suddenly complained of circulatory problems, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramps in physical education classes. Many had to vomit, 16 had collapsed because of the complaints and had to be hospitalized. Quickly the first assumptions were expressed, which could be the cause of the mass complaints. After a pollutant load in the air in the 2008 newly built gymnasium could be excluded - on the basis of taken air samples - was a Noro virus infection suspected. Both the rescuers and the school affairs supervisor, Kati Hille, suspected that the children were already infected with the Noro virus, and the illness subsequently broke out as a result of their physical education efforts. These considerations turned out to be wrong. The real reasons for students' complaints remain a mystery.

Collapsed students are better again
The sixteen broken girls and boys, according to the information from the clinics, meanwhile, gets better. During the day, the last students can be released from the hospitals. become. The school operation at the Weißeritzgymnasium was resumed one day after the strange mass illnesses. The entire building was previously cleaned and disinfected, according to the Landratsamt. However, the reasons for the students' acute circulatory and stomach discomfort remain unclear. After the causes are searched further, also stressed Karin Kerber, spokeswoman of the district Saxon Switzerland Osterzgebirge. At the moment, general parallels and possible contacts between those involved were also analyzed in more detail, the district spokeswoman explained. Initial results are expected to be presented later this day.

Mass illnesses can have many causes
Such mass illnesses can have a number of causes. In addition to possible poisonings, for example due to pollution in food, indoor air or objects with which the persons concerned are constantly in contact, similar phenomena were observed, for example in 2002 in France after a hepatitis B vaccine. At that time, according to the critical journal „Immunization Report“ Seventeen adolescents with relatively severe symptoms are treated in the hospital following a hepatitis B vaccine. What has concretely led to the complaints among the pupils in Freital will only have to be determined by a precise comparison of the parallels between the pupils. An explanation of the exact causes of the disease of the students at the Weisseritz Gymnasium in Freital, however, is urgently needed to avoid similar incidents in the future, as the statement of the district office. The collapses had triggered a large-scale deployment of rescue workers, the high school had to be closed, teachers and students were not allowed to leave the school for hours. (Fp)

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infectious diseases
Noro virus: Dozens of students collapse

Image: Dieter Schütz