By Chris Barrett
Staff Writer

About 60 students at the University of Vermont have been diagnosed with gastroenteritis, a stomach illness that can infect either bacterially or virally, during the week of Oct. 24. UVM health workers and Vermont Department of Health officials are waiting to confirm where the illness originated.

Gastro-what?

Gastroenteritis is “an acute infectious syndrome of the stomach lining and the intestine,” according to britannica.com. “It is characterized by diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. Other symptoms can include nausea, fever, and chills.”

These are the symptoms dozens of UVM students have dealt with over the past two weeks. Gastroenteritis is common in communities where lots of people interact on a daily basis, and may spread through bodily contact or sharing food.

“We’ve certainly had more students than usual,” says Jon Porter, M.D., director of the UVM Center for Health and Wellbeing. “It hasn’t been overwhelming, though.”

All symptoms have had the characteristics of a viral infection, Porter says. If the illness was food-borne in origin, all signs would have pointed to a bacterial infection, which is much more serious. Still, the Vermont Department of Health was called in to investigate UVM’s dining halls.

“We interviewed students with symptoms, where they lived, where they had eaten, what special events they had gone to,” says Susan Schoenfeld, deputy state epidemiologist. “Everything was consistent with a viral infection.”

Gastroenteritis spreads easily in institutions where there’s lots of close contact, Schoenfeld says. Outbreaks have occurred across numerous campuses in the past, such as Georgetown University and the University of Southern California.

“We cannot confirm where it came from,” she says. “It can happen if there are ill students handling instruments, or an ill food handler. It could be that some virus got onto the food and lead to a rapid increase in cases. We can’t confirm that happened, but it may have been a component.”

Living with gastroenteritis

Sophomore Heather Barnes-Flint was one of the many UVM students infected by the gastroenteritis outbreak. She began noticing symptoms at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21. They persisted for three days before finally subsiding.

Barnes-Flint called the UVM Center for Health and Wellbeing, but could not get an appointment.

The UVM Center for Health and Wellbeing couldn't treat gastroenteritis, but advised infected students on how to deal with their symptoms. (Photo by Megan Davin)

“It’s not the type of thing you can treat,” she says. “They could really only give advice.”

Barnes-Flint was also among the infected students interviewed by the Vermont Department of Health. They asked where she had eaten, where she lived, and what the symptoms were like, in an effort to trace the origin of the outbreak.

One of Barnes-Flint’s suitemates, as well as other friends in her dorm, also experienced symptoms of gastroenteritis. She originally estimated that 30 students had been infected, but says that the number has risen to at least 60 since then.

Barnes-Flint believes the outbreak originated in the University Marché, one of the school's 12 dining locations. The Marché is a pay-as-you-go open kitchen specializing in European-style food.

“All the people I spoke to eat there on a regular basis,” she says. “It’s the only place it could’ve come from.”

An ounce of prevention…

When the Vermont Department of Health concluded its investigation of UVM’s dining halls after the outbreak, they shared their findings with Hank Strashnick, dining services general manager at St. Michael’s.

“The Board of Health inspected, and they passed,” Strashnick says.

Of the UVM students interviewed, only five or six had eaten in the questionable dining hall, he says. Even if it had originated from a food-worker, they could have gotten it from a student.

Sophomore Heather Barnes-Flint, who contracted gastroenteritis, believes that the University Marché may have been the origin of the virus. (Photo by Megan Davin)

People are quick to jump to conclusions, he says.

While Strashnick was living in Rhode Island years ago, a similar outbreak occurred at a local university. Students and the media assumed the illness originated in the dining hall. Further investigation revealed that it was a plumbing problem, not a food service problem.  Dirty water from a janitor’s mop had splashed back up into the custodial faucet, spreading and infecting the entire plumbing system.

“It takes a while to find out exactly what happened,” Strashnick says. “These things can be confirmed scientifically.”

Sodexo, which also provides food services for UVM’s dining locations, goes to great lengths to prevent any illnesses originating in its food, Strashnick says. Employees know to call in sick if they aren’t feeling well, he says. If they come in sick, they’re asked to go home.

Employees wear gloves and wash their hands before handling food. If it’s suspected that food is infected, samples are sent to a lab to be analyzed, Strashnick says.

Additionally, all leftover food is logged and marked at the end of each day. Refrigerator temperatures are logged three times a day. The washing machines are logged every three hours, and the temperature of all food out front is taken and logged every two hours.

“The key to safe food is time and temperature,” Strashnick says.