Half of Virginia high school out sick due to flu-like symptoms
About 1,000 students at a Virginia high school were out sick last week with flu-like symptoms after the school's homecoming event may have turned into a superspreader, officials and students said.
Nearly half of the student body of Stafford High School in Fredericksburg, Virginia, had symptoms and were absent from school on Oct. 21, a spokesperson for the school, about 50 miles south of Washington, D.C., told NBC Washington.
The school said in an Oct. 21 Facebook post that it would be canceling all school activities and athletics through Oct. 23 due to the high number of student and staff illnesses.
The school's student newspaper, the Smoke Signal, reported 1,289 tickets had been sold for the homecoming dance, which was held in the school's cafeteria on Oct. 15.
One student told the Smoke Signal that when she went to an urgent care facility, she had to wait for two hours before a provider told her, "This is the worst I’ve ever seen," and that about 500 students had sought treatment at the center.
The school's spokesperson told NBC Washington officials are working with the health department to identify the cause of the outbreak.
Health officials have warned this year's flu season could be severe, and several states are already seeing a high number of cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Because flu hasn’t been circulating in the community that much the past couple of years, (our) immune systems haven’t had an opportunity to get restimulated and increase antibody levels” Dr. Jennifer Lighter, pediatric infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone, previously told TODAY. “In the United States, immunity against flu is lower than in prior years, so this is one of the reasons why it’s expected to be a more severe season,” Lighter added.
The past few flu seasons have been mild in the U.S. due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and experts are urging people to get the seasonal flu vaccine to help protect themselves.
“It’s more important this year to get the flu shot than it has been in the prior couple of years,” Lighter said.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
