Sean C. Morgan
Two confirmed cases of norovirus infections in Sweet Home schools prompted television news reporters to visit the community last week, a small number of parents to keep their children home from school to avoid infection, and the Sweet Home School District to thoroughly clean its schools.
Really, though, it’s what many people think of as basic stomach flu, according to health experts.
“It’s the most common stomach bug in schools and daycare centers in the United States,” said District Nurse Patty O’Day. “There’s many stomach bugs. That’s just one of many, (but) 50 percent of cases are norovirus, and they have them every year.”
It’s a routine illness and most cases are not confirmed by testing, O’Day said. “The doctors can’t treat it.”
The primary treatment for the symptoms is the same for most of the stomach bugs: hydration, she said, so typically doctors diagnose it without testing when the norovirus starts making its rounds, “and we have a number of cases of it every year.”
The Linn County Health Department sent a brief email message Dec. 6 to Sweet Home Fire Chief Dave Barringer warning of an outbreak of the norovirus, which closed several Albany schools last month as attendance fell among employees and students.
“Just wanted to give you a heads up, that Sweet Home School District has reported an outbreak of the norovirus this afternoon, which may result in future school closures,” said county Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Neva Anderson by email. “Attached is information about PPE, precautions, etc. as this continues to spread around Linn County.”
Barringer forwarded the message to City Manager Ray Towry, who immediately alerted his emergency team and offered the city’s assistance to the School District if it needed help.
The School District posted information to social media that night and then went into a full cleaning mode, cleaning once with bleach wipes and then making another pass with hydrogen peroxide wipes.
“I’m proud of the district,” said Yahraes, who noted that the district never received any direct notice about the outbreak. “We got after it. At that point, it’s very important to get that information out to the community, being transparent with the facts.”
Monday morning, a news van was parked in front of the Central Office.
“We had parents today calling and saying they saw the news article,” said Hawthorne Principal Barbi Riggs, and their children didn’t come to school. One of the news stations had used a shot of Hawthorne in its story, although the confirmed case wasn’t at Hawthorne or at any of Sweet Home’s elementary schools.
“It’s a shame because we missed the children,” Riggs said. “They missed out on an educational day. Our buildings are sanitary and clean. Unfortunately, the news media instilled fear into our family for the wrong reasons.”
Schools across the district had three to 10 students stay home to avoid contracting the norovirus, O’Day said.
The confirmed cases were at Sweet Home Junior High and Sweet Home Charter School.
Charter School Principal Jeff Tompkins said that a student got sick over Thanksgiving and did not come to school while sick.
The other student had stayed home, O’Day said, and the test results were reported to the district by the family.
“With the concerns, we’ve increased our janitorial, with an extra cleaning mid-day to keep kids safe and healthy,” Tompkins said. That was before school staff even became aware of a confirmed case there.
“We peaked,” O’Day said Dec. 11. “Today the absences for illness were down.”
As it stands, absences have been running about the same as last year, Yahraes said. This year, overall district attendance from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6 was 91.2 percent. Last year, the same week of school, it was 91.22 percent, and in 2017, attendance was 91.66 percent. The lowest attendance was on Dec. 5.
“This is a typical bout of seasonal viruses,” O’Day said. It’s no bigger than usual, “and I don’t think there’s a reason to panic. The schools are taking all the precautions.”
Around Oregon, the numbers are higher than they were last year, O’Day said, but it’s not at a severe level.
The norovirus came to widespread attention because of the way it spreads through cruise ships, O’Day said.
Keeping clean is key to avoiding the illness, O’Day said. People should wash their hands thoroughly, getting between fingers, after using the restroom or before eating, for example, for a full minute. Hands should be thoroughly dried because traces of water may contain the viruses, and people should avoid sharing food and drinks.
She urges people to practice proper hygiene and wash their hands, because the bugs are out there.
“(Infection is) going to peak and come down,” O’Day said. “And it’s going to peak again later.”