Suspected norovirus
250 pupils affected: gastrointestinal outbreak at primary school in Hamburg
A major gastrointestinal outbreak occurred on Wednesday at a Hamburg elementary school (archive photo)
© Annette Riedl / DPA
In a Hamburg elementary school, around 250 children with gastrointestinal problems are registered as sick. There are also sick leave from the teaching team. It is still unclear what triggered the wave of disease.
At the Rothestrasse school in the Ottensen district of Hamburg, around 250 pupils with gastrointestinal complaints are reported sick. Teachers and employees in the educational team are also loud star-Information affected. The school contacted the health department. The school’s caterer is also involved.
As the “Hamburger Abendblatt” reported, the sick suffered from abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and sometimes fever since Wednesday. Mike Schlink, spokesman for the Altona district office, told the newspaper: “Samples were taken from some children, which are now being examined in the Institute for Hygiene and Environment.” One wants to examine the samples for the norovirus.
Food poisoning is currently ruled out
Noroviruses are highly contagious, which is why outbreaks often occur in kindergartens, schools, retirement homes or hospitals. The outbreaks are most common between October and March. The noroviruses are often transmitted from person to person or on contaminated objects via smear infections, for example if the pathogens are passed on in stool remains or in remains of vomit on the hands. Infection through food is also possible.
According to Schlink, food poisoning is also possible in the specific case at the Hamburg school. To star-Information would have shown research, however, that the food was most likely not the cause of the infections, since other schools have given the food in this way. There were no symptoms there. Nevertheless, for safety reasons, the distribution of food was prohibited by the health department. According to “Abendblatt”, Backfisch was on the menu on Tuesday.
Classes should have been interrupted on Wednesday. All contact surfaces in the school would now be thoroughly disinfected. The caterer team will also follow star-Information examined and tested.
Sick children and employees have to stay at home and are only allowed to go back to school when they have been symptom-free for 48 hours. For all healthy children, lessons continue as normal.