Platform

The possibility that frozen fruit cups served at 18 Los Angeles schools could be contaminated with a hepatitis virus threw the schools into confusion; teacjers and nurses scrambled to figure out who had eaten the frozen treat so those at greatest risk could be inoculated against the disease, which takes at least two weeks to develop. MARY REESE BOYKIN and DEBORAH BELGUM spoke with parents and staff at affected schools about the scare and how it was handled

MARGARET SCOTT

President of Parent Teacher Assn. at Wilton Place Elementary School, which her granddaughter, 9, attends

I thought they should immunize everyone who came to school that day, [not just those thought to have eaten the fruit cups.]. Most of the children have forgotten what they ate that day. I know, talking to my granddaughter, it was hard to get it out of her. At first she said no, she hadn’t eaten the dessert. I think we talked about something else, and then she said she did eat it. I think the other children are in the same condition. They are young and don’t remember.

I would have inoculated them earlier. And I would have notified people earlier. We didn’t know until Tuesday that Wilton Place was on the list. From the time the Board of Education found out [late the previous week] they should have notified the school and not waited for days.

SOLEDAD ROCHA

Son, 14, attends Garfield High School; he apparently did not eat the fruit dessert

I don’t think I would have done anything different. The school has taken the necessary measures to handle this. They wrote a letter and sent it home to the parents on Wednesday informing them of the measures parents should take to avoid contamination, the hepatitis A symptoms they should look for and where they should go to get inoculated.

On Wednesday night there was a bilingual meeting for parents in the school cafeteria for an hour and a half. The principal answered questions we had and addressed the worries we were all feeling. School personnel told us that we should wash our hands a lot to not spread contamination and wash our children’s hands. They also told us about the mobile clinic [that would be coming to] the school to vaccinate the students and any parents if they wanted.

ANDREA COLEMAN

School nurse, Mt. Vernon Middle School

Students have a lot of questions: “How is the virus transmitted? If someone who ate the fruit sneezes on you, can you get it? “I didn’t eat the fruit but my friend did. Can I get the virus from my friend?” As a nurse, I educate the students--particularly stressing the importance of washing their hands--and teach them how they can prevent receiving or passing on the virus.

SHIRLEY GARRETT

Community/parent representative, Fremont High School

At Fremont, we have received lots of parent phone calls about the virus. I think many parents and students panicked.

A letter was read for students who had eaten the fruit to come to the nurse’s office by grade. Copies of an article about hepatitis A were given to students. Some students, in typical teenage style, went to the nurse’s office as an excuse to get out of class.

Among our African American student population, a lot of students are unaffected because they don’t eat in the cafeteria. They are ashamed to get in the [government-subsidized] lunch lines, which are called the county lines by many students. Some went around laughing at those who had eaten the contaminated fruit. But we used this situation to teach students how to have proper concern for one another.

LINDA AJISHAFE

Cook, Mt. Vernon Middle School

Since this incident, there have been doubts about the kitchen. Kids ask, “Is it safe to eat the fruit today?” Or they say, “Don’t eat the food; it might kill you.”

It’s appalling that some people place the blame on the cafeteria. The food came to us sealed and ready to be served. All we did was to pass it out. But the cafeteria has been under scrutiny since this incident. Health inspectors check our refrigerator, how we look. But most of us have eaten those strawberries too.

I think that many parents are telling kids not to eat in the cafeteria until they find out what is going on. I, too, am wondering how could this happen when it affects so many. We cafeteria workers love our jobs and want to continue serving kids. And we don’t want to be under scrutiny when things are out of our hands.