Mystery Rash Bugging Students In 7 Different States, Including Washington

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Mystery Rash Bugging Students In 7 Different States, Including Washington

February 15, 2002

By KOMO Staff & News Services

PHILADELPHIA - Hundreds of youngsters in Washington, Oregon and at least

five other 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.

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.

Our 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

County, Va. A cause was never determined, although officials also

suspected a virus.

Dr. Suzanne , 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 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 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. "