MADISON, N.C. -- Hundreds of students and staff members are sick with a viral illness at Huntsville Elementary School in Rockingham County.
On Tuesday, school officials reported at least 219 students had been infected with the stomach bug so far, with 107 students missing class Tuesday.
That's down from the 138 students who were absent on Monday.
District officials say it's hard to tell what new cases may have popped up, since some healthy students are staying home to avoid contracting the virus. However, 48 of the students absent at school on Tuesday had been at school on Monday.
They are not sure what the virus is, but say that the symptoms are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Friday afternoon, the district received a phone call stating that 15 students went home due to nausea and vomiting. The district office then notified the Rockingham County Department of Public Health with concerns of how many kids were sick.
Parents were notified Friday afternoon at 5:30 pm with a phone message saying that if their kid had the following symptoms to not let them come back school until they were 24 hours symptom free.
Throughout the weekend the school continued to see more cases.
Two students went to the hospital and were diagnosed with a virus.
The State Health Department then recommended a cleaning of the school to prevent further contamination. On Sunday afternoon, Huntsville was cleaned with a bleach solution.
The illness can be best prevented by good hand washing, according to the Department of Public Health.
The school will be bleached again with solution after the end of the school day, and washing hands will be emphasized.
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