Severe headaches, nausea, vomit during class:
Jules-Verne collegein the municipality of
Soler (Pyrénées-Orientales), the morning of Friday December 5 was cut short. In a few hours, around ten then dozens of college students were seized by the same malaise, forcing the establishment to trigger a crisis unit and urgently notify families, against a backdrop of rumors ofpoisoning
or dizzying gastro.
The extent of the phenomenon became apparent over the weekend. Monday morning, Mayor Armelle Revel-Fourcade made a new point: “Today we have 400 sick children“, declared the mayor on BFMTV, while the latest report communicated the day before showed 239 students and 8 adults affected. And no one yet knows what made them sick.
At Jules-Verne college, a sudden wave of vomiting
The first symptoms were reported on Friday morning by around ten students, suffering from headaches and
vomiting. In the afternoon, the situation suddenly changed: nearly 90 adolescents presented the same digestive problems, forcing many parents to come pick them up and take them to the emergency room of the Perpignan hospital or to the Saint-Pierre clinic, according to the figures communicated by the town hall.
In total, 55 people presented to the emergency room, 10 were treated in clinic, and 13 children had to be hospitalized.for rehydration and monitoring“, according to the town hall. Sunday, December 7, the municipality recorded 239 college students and 8 sick adults, or 247 people affected by this mysterious intoxication in a college in the Pyrénées-Orientales. Only one student then remained under observation, while some young people “also experience a resumption of symptoms after a lull“, indicated Armelle Revel-Fourcade to L’indépendant.
Water ruled out and canteen scrutinized by health authorities
Faced with this multiplication of cases, the water trail in the college’s internal network was first examined. The analyzes carried out by the Occitanie Regional Health Agency (ARS) proved negative: “The analyzes came yesterday (Sunday Editor’s note) evening. An ARS press release confirmed that water was not responsible“, specified the mayor. New samples are also being taken from the college fountains, in order to remove any doubt on this subject.
Investigations are now turning to the food served in the canteen. “Samples are taken this morning from the control meals of Thursday noon and Friday noon to find out if this could come from food.“, detailed Armelle Revel-Fourcade. The Departmental Directorate for Population Protection (DDPP) is sifting through last week’s meals, while the mayor estimates: “I think we’ll know a little more by Wednesday.”.
Measures in the college and waiting for results
The authorities quickly noted that the wave of illness did not stop at the college gates. Many parents of students have in turn presented the same headaches, nausea and
vomiting. “It’s a big epidemic,” recognizes Armelle Revel-Fourcade, who publicly questions: “When you have sick children in such a short period of time, one can ask questions. And there are a lot of sick parents there too. Is it viral? Is this an epidemic of devastating gastroenteritis? We will ensure, by all the means at our disposal, that we can provide concrete answers to our residents.“.
“Viral gastroenteritis can indeed be dazzling” confirms Doctor Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of True Medical, “with symptoms that begin suddenly and sometimes with sudden onset, including nausea, vomiting, profuse diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever, often after an incubation of 24 to 72 hours.”. Another hypothesis but unlikely in this case according to him: collective food poisoning (TIAC): “The fact that the parents were also affected makes TIAC unlikely because not all the victims consumed the same meal..
To limit the risks, the Jules-Verne college and the town hall disinfected the premises at dawn, closed the water points, distributed bottled water, replaced the hydroalcoholic gel dispensers and served a cold meal in the canteen. Classes resumed on Monday, but only around fifty students showed up, awaiting the results of the ARS and DDPP analyses.