EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — More than 100 East Stroudsburg University students have been stricken with a fast-moving, hard-hitting gastrointestinal infection, the university said Thursday.
Pocono Medical Center saw 62 ESU students from Wednesday through Thursday morning, admitting eight and sending the rest home after treatment, according to Geoffrey Roche, the hospital's spokesman. He said he hadn't seen anything quite like this in his seven years at the hospital.
Roche said Pocono Medical Center, a 235-bed facility, is isolating ESU students with gastrointestinal symptoms so the infection doesn't spread to other patients. "We prepare for this all the time," he said. "We're in very good shape."
The symptoms point to a virus, according to an ESU alert sent to students Wednesday.
About 42 students sought treatment between 10 p.m. Tuesday and noon Wednesday at the hospital or the college's Health Services Center, the alert read. That number had nearly tripled by 2 p.m. Thursday. Resident students as well as commuters have reported the illness. Those experiencing symptoms, chiefly vomiting, were asked to remain home.
"Please be aware that officials at ESU have been investigating the circumstances surrounding these incidents and have been in direct conversation with ESU Dining Services and the [Pennsylvania] Department of Health," the alert stated.
The Health Department is interviewing sick students to determine the cause of the infection, the university added in a news release Thursday.
The likely culprit is norovirus, according to Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, St. Luke's University Health Network's chief of infectious diseases. Norovirus, made famous by outbreaks on cruise ships, also is referred to as Norwalk virus and used to be called "winter vomiting disease."