Extreme stomach bug infecting students at schools across Kanawha - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

Extreme stomach bug infecting students at schools across Kanawha County

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A stomach bug is floating around some schools in Kanawha county and it's prompting principals to take extra precautions to keep the facilities clean.

J.E. Robins Elementary is wiping down the desks, door handles and even the water fountains. Workers are going through the cleaning process not once, but twice or three times.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department is also investigating a number of absences at Ruthlawn Elementary in South Charleston. School officials said dozens of students have been sick since last week.

Now, the health department is trying to figure out how many students actually have the stomach bug and which strain of the virus they have. "At this point, we're still trying to collect some specimens from children who are ill to see if we can isolate which one it is," said Janet Briscoe with the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.

Doctors said the good news is that the symptoms usually clear within 24-48 hours and they haven't seen any serious cases of the stomach bug yet.