At least 40 Half Hollow Hills High School West students absent with stomach illness
Dozens of students who attend Half Hollow Hills High School West became sick this week with stomach-related illnesses, district officials said Thursday.
More than 40 students of about 1,000 who attend the high school were absent Thursday because they have been sick, according to Chip Parker, spokesman for the Half Hollow Hills Central School District. The district was closed Wednesday for Eid al-Fitr.
The exact cause of the illnesses remains unclear, but staff from the Suffolk health department's Bureau of Public Health Protection inspected the school's food service and determined its food-handling practices were in compliance with the Suffolk County Sanitary Code.
"School staff and students who did not eat food prepared in the cafeteria have also recently become ill, and an increase in students reporting gastrointestinal illness was reported by nurses in multiple district schools," Grace Kelly-McGovern, spokeswoman for Suffolk County Department of Health Services, wrote in a statement.
Parker said the school district has been in touch with pediatricians who “have reported a significant spike in stomach-related illnesses and suspect a virus.”
The district will continue to “deep clean surfaces throughout the building” to reduce any further spreading, Parker said.
Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children's Hospital, said the affected students should stay home until they are fever-free and hydrated.
“If they have a fever, we want them home, and get well hydrated,” she said. “If they continue to have diarrhea and vomiting, we want them home.”
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
