Valencia Elementary School was closed Friday after numerous students were sickened by what is likely norovirus. The school will reopen Tuesday.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District notified parents in an email on Nov. 7.
“The purpose of the school closure is to stop the additional transmission of the virus,” the email states.
Families should keep their children home if they have any of these symptoms, and keep them home until 48 hours after symptoms have ended, Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials said.
According to PVUSD Impact and Resource Development Officer Andrea Carlos Willy, 236 students were absent on Thursday.
In a public alert from the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (HSA), 33 additional cases of gastrointestinal illness were reported in a workplace setting in late October, with no known connection between the two outbreaks.
There have been no known hospitalizations or deaths.
A school employee who asked not to be identified said that more than 80 students were absent on Wednesday, followed by well over 200 the next day.
The employee expressed concern that the school was not closed on Thursday, and that the employees were not warned the cause of the sickness was norovirus.
In a text message, PVUSD Superintendent Heather Conrtreras said that the district has been in contact with the HSA since Wednesday, and has monitored the situation with that agency’s guidance.
“We always take closing schools very seriously,” Contreras stated. “We also keep the health and safety of our students as a top priority. As we monitored the situation and as the numbers of student absences increased, we made the decision to close the school.”
Contreras said added that school and county officials determined omn Wednesday that, “the number of absences reported for nausea and vomiting didn’t conclusively indicate a school closure, and that the deep cleaning and sanitization of the site that occurred during the night would work to contain and mitigate the spread.”
According to the HSA, viruses such as norovirus are easily transmitted via surfaces contaminated by stool or vomit, close contact with an infected person. Schools and other places where many people are in close proximity with each other are therefore particularly vulnerable.
“Noroviruses are extremely contagious, since high viral loads are present in both stool and vomit, and only a few viral particles are required to transmit illness,” the HSA stated in a public service announcement.
Even after symptoms resolve, individuals are still highly infectious – especially during the first 48 hours, but up to two weeks after the symptoms resolve.
Treatment should include supportive care with fluids.
Advice from the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency
• Practice frequent handwashing with soap and water. Alcohol-based sanitizers are NOT effective against Norovirus.
• Always wash hands with soap and water:
-Before and after contact with an ill or suspected ill individual
-After using the toilet
-Before AND after preparing food
After touching potentially contaminated objects such as doorknobs, counters and keyboards
-Use Contact and Standard Precautions when caring for ill or suspected ill individuals.
-Stay home if you experience symptoms, and do not return to work until you have been symptom-free for 48 hours.
-Clean and disinfect frequently
-Use disinfectants recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency
– Use a 1:10 dilution of bleach to water for surfaces soiled by bodily fluids
-Wash soiled linen in hot water and dry at the hottest setting possible.
For information, visit cdc.gov/norovirus/index.html
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This story has been updated with a response from PVUSD Superintendent Heather Contreras.
