MEDFORD, Mass. — An elementary school in Medford will be closed on Thursday after over 130 students were absent on Wednesday as a suspected case of Norovirus runs rampant through the building.
A professional cleaning company will perform a deep cleaning of Roberts Elementary School as students and staff stay home on Thursday, school officials say.
School officials consulted with the Medford Board of Health and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to determine the wave of illness is likely due to the spread of Norovirus.
Norovirus is a highly contagious stomach illness, with individuals typically experiencing symptoms suddenly, including vomiting.
The Medford Board of Health will also examine Roberts Elementary School‘s cafeteria equipment to rule out any other potential causes.
“If you or your child is experiencing Norovirus symptoms, the Board of Health and MPS Health Services recommend that all students and staff should wait 24 hours after experiencing vomit-like symptoms before returning to school. The best way to avoid the spread of Norovirus is to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water; hand sanitizer is not effective,” Medford Public Schools wrote on Facebook.
Dr. Vandana Madhavan, Clinical Director and Director of Pediatric Disease at Mass General Brigham for Children, spoke to Boston 25 on Wednesday about the situation.
“Poor families, poor kids,” she said. “It’s enormously contagious. It can spread very quickly among a lot of people like we’re seeing in Medford.”
Madhavan told us the symptoms of the disease can show within 12 hours of exposure.
The disease is most likely to spread in densely populated areas like school.
Madhavan explained, “All classrooms, the cafeteria, all shared spaces, offices, etc. are really being cleaned.”
Dr. Shire Doron, chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine, told Boston 25 that norovirus spreads so easily because it only takes a small number of particles to get sick.
“It’s so hard to get it out of the environment,” she said. “It’s not easily killed by water or hand sanitizer. It’s not easily killed by soap either.”
She said bleaching on a surface for an extended period of time is the best method to treat an infected area.
She continued, “This is a very big outbreak, and we need to really dramatically cut that contamination down in the building.”
The district’s interim superintendent, Dr. Suzanne B. Galusi, spoke to Boston 25 over the phone on Wednesday.
She reportedly learned about the outbreak from the school’s principal, who reported roughly 130 absences in the approximately 600 students school on Wednesday.
During Wednesday’s half-day, 8 students and 3 staff members, Galusi said, were sent home with stomach illness symptoms.
“[The principal] had 127 students call in sick,” she said. “Out of that number, 75 parents reported that their child was sick, had stomach issues, and maybe some vomiting.”
She claimed no other schools in the district saw similar absence dropoffs.
Galusi finished, “Out of an abundance of caution, to make sure we are doing what we can to keep our students and staff healthy, that’s why we decided to do this, especially around the holiday time, to stop the spread.”
She said they are confident students will return to the classroom at Robers Elementary on Friday.
A plan will be drafted alongside the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to make up the lost school day.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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