Rash outbreak sends 60 students home

[Guest guest]

http://www.observer-reporter.com/274513942653852.bsp

Saturday, March 23, 2002

Rash outbreak sends 60 students home

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - About 60 Philadelphia charter school students were sent

home this week after they complained of itchy, pink rashes on their arms and

necks.

The rashes surfaced nearly two months after hundreds of students in suburban

Philadelphia schools complained of similar rashes.

Mast Community Charter School in northeast Philadelphia sent letters to

parents of the 996 students explaining the problem. The letter also advised

parents of afflicted students to talk to a physician.

About 34 students, mostly seventh-graders, reported the rash Wednesday and

were sent home. Another 26 students reported the same rash Thursday and were

also sent home, said Delguercio, president of the school's board of

trustees.

" What the Health Department told us is that it appeared to be a viral

infection similar to this mystery rash that's going around, " Delguercio

said.

Similar rashes closed two Bucks County elementary schools and a Montgomery

County intermediate school in early February.

A national study of mysterious rash outbreaks among schoolchildren in at

least 14 states found no common cause, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control

reported late last month.