BIRMINGHAM, Mich. – There's concern at a Birmingham elementary school after nearly two dozen children and faculty members were struck by a mysterious rash.
After a weeklong investigation they still haven't pinpointed the cause, but have ruled out any major medical issue.
According to school officials and the Oakland County Health Division, the rash is inconsistent with the measles or anything viral. Moreover, it does not appear to be an allergic reaction because it did not respond to Benadryl treatment.
They now believe the children and teachers were victims of a chemical burn. The rash was isolated to the backs of the legs, the bottom and lower back, which is consistent from contact with a toilet.
"She said it hurt to sit down, and she had a little blister on her bottom," said Rebecca Tweddle, whose 11-year-old daughter came home with the symptoms on Friday.
Tweddle said it took a couple days for her daughter to recover.
"She was in pain. It was sad and upsetting," she said.
The focus is on the cleaning solution used last Tuesday night in bathrooms at the school. It's the same cleaning solution cleared for use in schools, hospitals and other public institutions. It comes in a concentrate and must be diluted. Janitorial staffers say all appropriate procedures were followed.
"To see this kind of reaction in light of that is very concerning. We're not going to rest until we know that we've looked at every option to try to figure out what happened here," said Dan Nerad, superintendent of Birmingham Public Schools.
The school has taken that cleaning solution off the shelves and is having it analyzed to make sure the product is not flawed. The affliction is traced to boys, girls and faculty bathrooms. However, they can't conclusively say this wasn't chemical vandalism -- a nasty prank.
"We can't rule that out, nor have we determined that," said Nerad. "We're not ruling anything out."
They hope to have the chemical analysis back by the end of the week. If it comes back normal they'll look more closely at whether it was properly diluted before use.