Nearly 100 young adolescents, including several from Quebec, were seriously ill last Monday and Tuesday while staying in a vacation center in the Alps.
“I started to have a real stomach ache, I went to the toilet then I vomited, all that,” a young Quebecer testified to TF1 Info about his stay at the La Plagne 1800 center, located in Savoie.
According to information relayed by various French media, around 97 young people aged between 11 and 13, out of a total of 370, were sick, presenting in particular significant fatigue as well as strong and repeated vomiting.
Another young person, a tourist also from Quebec, testified to the events on camera at TF1 Info while a friend of his was ill.
“It seemed to start with a stomach ache, a heart ache. He wasn’t feeling very well. Afterwards, he went to look in the corridor and that’s when he noticed that there were around ten or fifteen people lying on the ground who were all in the same situation as him.” he said.
@tf1info 🦠Nearly 97 adolescents, aged 11 to 13, suffered from vomiting and severe fatigue in a holiday center in La Plagne. After analyses, the ARS identified a norovirus, very contagious, as the probable origin of the epidemic. No children were hospitalized. The situation has improved thanks to the isolation of patients, even if eight new cases were reported.
♬ son original – TF1 INFO – TF1 INFO
Doctors and firefighters were reportedly dispatched to the scene to help the young people.
The director of the La Plagne 1800 sports village, Marc Pougheon, told TF1 Info that norovirus gastroenteritis had been identified as the source of young people’s health problems.
“Ultra transmissible and ultra air resistant. So, I imagine a child came with it, passed it on and so on,” commented Mr. Pougheon.
Notified of the situation, the mayor of La Plagne-Tarentaise, Jean-Luc Boch, told TF1 Info that he was not overly worried.
“Gastroenteritis is one of those epidemics which is triggered by heat strokes and cold snaps. And it is a virus which is quite tenacious, and especially children, since only children here have been affected,” he said in an interview.
A person infected with norovirus can begin to show symptoms only 12 hours after exposure, we explain on a Government of Canada page dedicated to health. “Most people feel better after two or three days.
The main symptoms are nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain and cramps, and vomiting. People may also experience chills, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and mild fever.
According to various French media, no young person was hospitalized and the origin of the contamination still remained to be determined.
Noovo Info contacted the authorities of the La Plagne 1800 sports village, as well as the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional health agency, by email on Thursday to obtain more details on the events, but had not received a response at the time of writing.
