-Caveat Lector- http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=41038
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! February 15, 2002 Mysterious rash affects OR students and others in 7 states Hundreds of youngsters in at least seven states have broken out in a mysterious rash, and some health investigators theorize it might be caused by a new or previously unrecognized virus. More an annoyance than a serious health threat, the rash has still managed to temporarily close schools, worry parents and frustrate school administrators, for whom answers have been elusive. Students in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Oregon and Washington have all complained about rashes, which show up on the face, arms, legs and body. For the most part, the rash goes away when the students leave school. "For something like this to occur almost simultaneously in different parts of the country is, to my knowledge, unprecedented," said Dr. Norman Sykes, who examined about 30 suburban Philadelphia students who came down with the red, itchy rash this month. Sykes is working with the Quakertown Community School District, where nearly 170 students at all nine schools were confirmed to have the rash. An environmental firm collected air and water samples and examined carpets, floor mats, vacuum bags and clothing, but all tested negative for contaminants. "We may never know what this thing is," said Quakertown Superintendent Jim Scanlon, who has consulted with school officials in four other districts around the country, including the Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor, Wash. While most districts seem to have ruled out an environmental cause, not so Peninsula, where an elementary school was closed this week after more than 50 students and teachers complained about a rash. The region's rainy, humid climate made officials there suspect mold. But test results showed an abnormally high level of dust, dandruff and skin particles - probably caused by an overactive ventilation system that took too much moisture out of the air. "People are very concerned about their children," said Peninsula Superintendent Jim Coolican. "We say its not a long-term problem, but people say, 'How do you know? How do you know it won't be a problem for my child 10 years from now?' Sykes, a dermatologist and assistant professor of medicine at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, suspects the culprit in Quakertown is either a mutation of fifth disease or a virus not yet described by science. So called because it was once considered one of the five main childhood illnesses, fifth disease produces a low fever and cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash that creates a "slapped cheek" appearance and a lacy red rash on the trunk, arms and legs. Though Sykes' patients had those same symptoms, a blood test called ELISA turned up no evidence of parvovirus, the virus that causes the disease. Sykes then performed a more involved blood test called PCR. This time, he discovered viral DNA in one student, confirming the presence of fifth disease. But nine other students tested negative for fifth disease. "My hunch is that it's a virus. But if that is the case, it seems to be a benign, harmless virus," Sykes said. The rash also surfaced in November at Marsteller Middle School in Prince William County, Va. A cause was never determined, although officials also suspected a virus. Dr. Suzanne Jenkins, an epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health, suspects a type of virus that lives in the gastrointestinal tract. The virus could have been spread through coughing and sneezing or by students who didn't wash their hands after using the bathroom, she said. State and federal health investigators failed to isolate any of the known viruses, making Jenkins believe the virus has yet to be identified. "We only know a tiny, tiny percentage, certainly less than 10 percent, of the organisms that are in and on our bodies," said infectious disease expert Madeline Drexler, author of "Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections." Scanlon, the Quakertown superintendent, believes some of the rashes might have been caused by psychosomatic "hysteria." And some rashes weren't rashes at all - high school students rubbed themselves with sandpaper in a futile attempt to get the school shut down, he said. Quakertown parent Keith Ruppel said the rashes are distracting his two children from their school work. "I really wish they could find the cause," said Ruppel, 42, father of a 10-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl. "But you can't keep them out of school." (Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. 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