Dozens of students at a Baltimore County school have caught the stomach flu

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore County School is seeing a spike in cases of the stomach flu. 

School officials are reporting a large number of students and staff at Stemmers Run Middle School are out sick this week due to illness.

Parent Rosemary Roos-Whitney told WJZ that her daughter is one of nearly a hundred students sick.

"It wasn't a terrible stomach virus," Ross-Whitney said. "She stayed off school today because she still as a little bit of a fever."

Dr. Scott Krugman, vice chair of pediatrics at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, said that other symptoms of the virus include stomach aches, vomiting, and diarrhea.

"The most important thing anytime a child has vomiting and diarrhea is to make sure they stay hydrated," he said.

This particular illness is very contagious. It spreads quickly amongst enclosed settings like schools and cruise ships, according to doctors.

School officials report nearly 10% of the student body has experienced at least some symptoms.

"Kids are always congregating, and they're not the best at washing their hands and not sharing things," Krugman said. "When one child has it and goes to school sick, it can very quickly spread amongst many kids."

About 120 students stayed home sick from school on Thursday. By Friday, more than 300 students had stayed home sick.

In collaboration with the Baltimore County health department, the school's principal Byran Thanner, released a statement to parents saying in part that the building will undergo an intensive and thorough cleaning.

Soap and paper towels will be made available in all bathrooms, and students and staff will be reminded about the importance of hand washing, school officials said.

" As long as they are taking the precautions, they are doing the right things like cleaning and disinfecting the schools, I don't have any problems, it happens," Roos-Whitney said.

Those impacted have been directed to stay home for at least 24 hours after symptoms resolve. In most cases, there's no need to seek emergency care, Krugman said.

"More often than not, this is a self-limiting disease that you can manage at home, and you don't need to be seen you don't need to sprite anybody else," he said.

Doctors recommend that people stay home if they contract the virus because the illness could take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to run its course.