Cause sought for student illness

Food p o iso n in g is be ing c o n ­ s idered by the D epa rtm e n t o f En­ v iro n m e n ta l H ealth and Safety (D E H S ) as a possib le cause o f the recen t surge o f ga s tro e n te ritis am ong N o rth Q uad students. No firm ev idence has been fo u nd yet to co n n ec t the N o tre Dam e Food Service w ith the illness. “ I t doesn 't seem lik e ly i t co u ld be food p o is o n in g ," co m m e n te d R obert Z e rr o f DEHS in an in te rv ie w yesterday. Z e rr com pared the n u m ­ ber o f peop le w h o have becom e i l l w ith the n u m b e r o f those w h o have eaten in N o r th D in in g H a ll in the last 72 hours and deem ed any co rre la ­ t io n un like ly . W ith c o o p e ra tio n fro m th e Food Service, w h ic h re ta ins samples o f eve ry meal, DEHS has taken samples o f Saturday d in n e r ’s ham burgers and Sunday lu n c h ’s roast b e e f to the South Bend M ed ica l Founda tion fo r tests. In five days DEHS w i l l be able to take a m ore d e fin it iv e stance a fte r diagnosed as su ffe ring fro m gastroen te ritis , he is asked w ha t and w h e re he ate in the last 24 hours. No co m m o n d e n o m in a to r was found in th is case. I f spo iled food was in ­ vo lved , “ genera lv i t w o u ld affect eve rb o d y tha t ate it , ” said Assistant Food Service D ire c to r Ron Athey. There are o fte n “ suspected p rob lem s ” o f food po iso n in g d u rin g th is tim e o f year, added Athey. January and February are co m m o n ly re fe rre d to as “ the flu season.” H ar­ r ie t Joyce, R. N., in f irm a ry s ta ff nurse, also suggested the season as a cause o f the virus. D oc to rs are ch e ck ing fo r bac te ria l in fe c tio n as w e ll. Any s tdent e xp e rie n c in g any o f the a fo re m e n tio n e d sym ptom s is en ­ couraged to re p o rt to the in fiirm a ry fo r tre a tm e n t and m ed ica tion . R ita G arvey, a nurse a t the N o tre D a m e S tuden t H e a lth Center, g ive sJo h n O lson som e suggestions f o r d e a lin g w ith the recent surge o f g a s tro e n te r it is th a t has a ffe c te d m a n y N o rth Q u a d students. (P h o to by Tom W hite ).