Strong norostrain spreads to canada Schools from?

asia /indonesia
throught the vancouver
airport maybe

Thursday, May 18, 2006
By TOM VOGT, Columbian staff writer
As norovirus symptoms decrease at two senior-living centers, county health officials are taking a close look at school absentee rates.

The Clark County Health Department has been monitoring cases of probable norovirus at two senior-living facilities for several days. The same symptoms vomiting, diarrhea and nausea appeared in a local school this week, and now health investigators are checking if absences at other schools are part of the outbreak.

More than 800 absences were reported Wednesday at Hudson's Bay and Fort Vancouver high schools, but health officials don't know if gastrointestinal disease played a role. The numbers were collected early in the day, and reported absences might include some students including seniors with light class loads who showed up later in the day.

"We are asking schools to track the reasons for absences," said John Wiesman, executive director of the Clark County Health District.

Health department investigators also will be interviewing some of the students who have been absent, said Marni Storey, manager of the county's infectious disease program. Investigators will telephone a random sampling of students who were reported absent and ask if they experienced norovirus symptoms, Storey said.

Those symptoms hit the classrooms earlier this week at Ellsworth Elementary School. Almost 200 students missed class Tuesday, and half of the 28 teachers missed work.

On Wednesday, 182 of Ellsworth's 478 students were absent, said Carol Fenstermacher, spokeswoman for Evergreen Public Schools. No other school in the Evergreen district has reported an unusually high number of absences, Fenstermacher said.

It's not unusual to have norovirus pop up in the community, health officials say, and Clark County is not its only current victim.

Dr. Justin Denny, Clark County health officer, said he called colleagues around the Northwest to see what they've been experiencing. King County reported 32 recent norovirus outbreaks, and there are 11 in Oregon, he said.

"For most of us, it's an annoyance for a day or two, then you get better," Wiesman said. And, he added, recovery also includes an immunity that seems to last about two months.

While health officials are waiting to see if the outbreak has moved into more local schools, they were glad to see the infection rate slowing at two senior-living centers.

"Prevention and control is working," Wiesman said.

Those control measures include discouraging visitors, frequent disinfecting with a bleach solution, monitoring food service and ensuring proper hand-washing.

As of Wednesday morning, there were no new cases in the Nursing Skilled Care Unit on Vancouver's Veterans Affairs campus. The total stood at 37 cases, including 19 residents and 18 staff members.

There was one new case reported Wednesday at Parkway North Care Center in Battle Ground; the total of 29 cases included 24 residents and five staff members.

Four people were in the hospital Wednesday, Wiesman said.

The outbreak also hit Echo Ridge in La Center, which is licensed to care for five adults. All five residents were sickened, including an 85-year-old patient who died last week; three staff members were also sickened.

The health department is still awaiting results of laboratory tests that will determine whether the death of an elderly patient at the VA unit was related to the outbreak. The patient had underlying medical conditions.

People who come down with symptoms are asked to stay home and not return to school or work until 48 hours after the last symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

Tom Vogt writes about health issues for The Columbian. Contact him at 360-759-8008 or tom.vogt@columbian.com.

Update

Previously: Almost 200 Ellsworth Elementary students missed school Tuesday as an outbreak of norovirus symptoms showed up in local classrooms.

What's new: Health officials are looking at absence rates at other local schools.