Norovirus Outbreak Closes Seattle School

Norovirus Outbreak Closes Seattle School

A recent norovirus outbreak led to the shutdown of an elementary school in Seattle after more than 100 students and staff members fell ill.

Norovirus Outbreak Closes Seattle School

Norovirus Outbreaks Underscore the Importance of Cleaning and Hygiene

Leschi Elementary School in Seattle Washington was closed on Friday, December 13th, after more than one hundred students and staff members reportedly fell ill with norovirus.

The school was locked down to allow custodians to deep clean the facilities, and no staff or students were allowed to return until Monday.

According to K5 News;

Leschi Elementary School was closed Friday due to a norovirus outbreak, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) announced Thursday.

SPS Superintendent Denise Juneau decided to close the school after more than 100 students and staff reported being sick on Thursday.

SPS spokesperson Tim Robinson said 20 students were out sick on Wednesday.

On Thursday, 83 students called out sick, 17 students were sent home during the day, and six staff members were also out sick.

Robinson said 12 or more staff members would have been out sick on Friday if the school was not closed.

More than 100 students, staff at Seattle school sickened by norovirus

The Seattle school closure comes on the heels of another shutdown at Oak Grove Academy in Gales Creek, Oregon, which was forced to close its doors after more than one-third of the small staff called in sick with flu-like symptoms.

According to Fox News;

Nearly half of the staff at an Oregon school called out sick this week, forcing the school to close for two days.

Oak Grove Academy in Gales Creek was closed on Wednesday and Thursday after 11 of the 30 staff members at the school called out with flu-like symptoms.

There was some suspicion the sickness could have been norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug, but this was not confirmed.

Oregon school closes after 'flu-like symptoms' sicken nearly half of staff

All of this pales in comparison to the outbreak that closed the Mesa County Valley School District 51 in Colorado--totaling more than 40 schools, and home to more than twenty thousand students--shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday.

A school district in Colorado recently said that a massive illness outbreak has forced the temporary closure of all its schools.

In a statement posted to its website on Wednesday, the Mesa County Valley School District 51 — the 14th largest in Colorado with more than 22,000 students — announced it was closing its more than 40 schools until after Thanksgiving break due to a highly contagious gastrointestinal illness.

The closure, which was spurred after more than a dozen schools began reporting a higher than normal amount of absences, is also unprecedented, as the district has “never before had to close all schools in the district due to illness,” according to the announcement.

Colorado school district closes more than 40 schools due to 'unprecedented spread' of contagious stomach bug

 

The Hand Hygiene Experiment

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), norovirus outbreaks are common and spread rapidly from person-to-person, as well as through contaminated food sources and surfaces.

The best methods of prevention are:

  • Handwashing.
  • Washing fruits and vegetables before consuming, and;
  • High-quality surface cleaning and disinfection.

This can be readily demonstrated and observed through the Hand Hygiene Experiment from the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, which uses several pieces of bread that children touch with clean or dirty hands and then seal in a ziplock bag to observe mold growth.

For More Information:

The results of the experiment were recently published online by an Idaho school science teacher.

 

Hand Hygiene Experiment - Wiped on Chromebooks

 

Hand Hygiene Experiment - Fresh and Untouched

 

Hand Hygiene Experiment - Dirty Hands

 

Hand Hygiene Experiment - Soad and Water

 

Hand Hygiene Experiment - Hand Sanitizer

 

Source:

 

References & Resources

 

Takeaway

Norovirus is an extremely common illness resulting in:

  • Approximately 20 million cases of gastroenteritis.
  • Roughly 2 million outpatient visits, and more than 400,000 emergency room visits.
  • Between 56,000 and 71,000 hospitalizations, and;
  • Between 570 and 800 deaths each year, resulting in;
  • A cost of around $2 billion annually.

Source:

The single best method for preventing the spread of norovirus is routine handwashing in accordance with the CDC's 5-step handwashing guidelines, combined with a high-performance cleaning and disinfection program focused on cleaning for health first.

If you would like more information regarding the effectiveness of high-performance infection prevention and control measures, or if you would like to schedule a free, no-obligation onsite assessment of your facility's custodial needs, contact us today for a free quote!

In Bakersfield CA, call (661) 437-3253

In Fresno CA, call (559) 206-1059

In Valencia CA, or Santa Clarita CA, call (661) 437-3253

In Palmdale CA, or Lancaster CA, call (661) 371-4756


Vanguard Cleaning Systems of the Southern Valley

Vanguard Cleaning Systems of the Southern Valley