Health Officials Investigating After Students Become Sick After Attending Events
VAIL, Colo. (CBS4) - Health officials are working to figure out what made so many students sick at three separate conferences in Colorado.
The health department in Larimer County calls it a small outbreak that may be affecting people across the state with norovirus. Since March state health officials have documented three separate instances where multiple students became ill.
One instance occurred last week at a statewide conference for more than 1,000 Colorado high school students in Vail. Two others occurred during separate conferences held at the Marriott Hotel in the Denver Tech Center.
"You can't blame or punish a facility. Facilities could clean a lot, but a person could come in the next day and do the same thing. It's really something that people have to take care of," said Jane Viste, Public Information Officer for the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment.
In all three cases Colorado students were together attending events over a span of a few days.
More than a dozen students from Poudre District high schools became sick after attending two of the conferences.
Norovirus tends to spread quickly and it's highly contagious. Viste says it's not necessarily unusual.
Those who have symptoms such as nausea, vomiting or diarrhea should stay home from work or school and stay away from people, especially the sick and elderly.
