Illness Outbreak Hits 90 Andrew High School Students Post-Prom

TINLEY PARK, IL — About 90 Andrew High School students have become sick with stomach flu-like symptoms over the weekend around a day or so after attending prom Friday night at Shedd Aquarium, the school said Monday. Some of the students were taken to the hospital, where they were apparently diagnosed with norovirus, according to online postings by parents and a student.

Initially, the school had estimated around 50 of the 400 students who attended Andrew's prom had taken ill. But by late afternoon Monday, officials had adjusted that amount to 90 after hearing from parents following a morning email to parents from Principal Bob Nolting.

The next step for the school and aquarium officials is to determine what caused the students to become sick.

"I have spoken with Shedd Aquarium administration and the Cook County Department of Public Health regarding this information," Nolting wrote in a second email to parents sent Monday afternoon. "The Cook County Department of Public Health is conducting an investigation to identify the source of this illness."

Andrea Rodgers, vice president of communications and public relations for Shedd, said the aquarium has "received a couple of inquiries regarding the matter … and are moving quickly to find out more information both internally and from the school."

"This is something we take very seriously," she told Patch on Monday morning.

According to parents on two Tinley Park community Facebook pages, students began getting sick Saturday, April 28, and into Sunday, April 29, after they had gone to prom Friday, April 27. Students who became ill suffered from fever, chills and vomiting, parents said.

Many of the students had traveled to the Wisconsin Dells following prom, and at least eight students were taken to the hospital there, parents and a student reported. One student in the Dells also passed out and 911 was called, one parent stated on the Facebook page.

The reports by the Andrew student and some of the parents indicated that the students taken to the out-of-state hospitals were diagnosed with norovirus, which carries stomach-related symptoms that can develop between 12 to 48 hours after exposure. Contaminated food and person-to-person contact can spread the virus, but people also can contract it through the air.

School officials are urging parents to contact the dean's office at 708-342-5894 if their child had become ill with flu-like symptoms over the weekend after attending prom. Details needed include:

• what food the student ate
• what other activities he or she participated in over prom weekend
• when the student began showing symptoms
• whether medical attention was sought, and if so, what was the diagnosis and recommendation for a course of action.

Patch will continue to update this story.

Photo via Patch archive