In 1997, Dani and I went to prom (below, exactly as shown). The theme was a classic: ‘Under the Sea.’ The venue was filled with bubble decorations, fish and blue streamers.
But no norovirus.
According to the Chillicothe Gazette, students attending the Zane Trace High School prom last weekend weren’t that lucky; 22 have symptoms consistent with norovirus.
According to Health District spokesman Rami Yoakum, calls began coming into the health district Monday from parents reporting sick children. Thus far, 22 illnesses are believed to be part of the same outbreak, 18 of whom are Zane Trace students.
Kathy Wakefield, director of Public Health Nursing at the health district, said officials believe a norovirus is the culprit.
The health district has been working with the school, advising officials to clean school surfaces, and has also sent letters home to parents describing symptoms and asking them to keep sick children at home and away from sporting events.
Specimens were collected and sent to the state lab in Reynoldsburg. If the results in each case come back all looking similar, the Health District will likely be able to trace back to the source of the contamination, Yoakum said. Presently, health officials feel they have a good idea where the illness may have originated, but don’t want to publicly speculate until until the results from the tests come back and they are sure.