Secondary school is forced to close after over 150 teachers and children went down with mystery vomiting bug
- Around a fifth of youngsters and dozens of staff members have been sent home
- Outbreak causing nausea, sweating, vomiting, high temperatures and diarrhoea
- A specialist company has now been hired to carry out a deep clean at the school
Nearly 150 pupils and teachers have fallen ill with a mystery sickness bug that has rapidly spread and forced a school to close.
The outbreak, which causes vomiting, high temperatures and diarrhoea, has affected around a fifth of youngsters at Dene Magna secondary school in Gloucestershire.
Dozens of sick pupils and staff were sent home before headmaster Stephen Brady decided to close altogether.
Dene Magna secondary school in Gloucestershire has been forced to close
A specialist company has now been hired to carry out a deep clean at the school in Mitcheldean in the Forest of Dean which is due to reopen on Monday.
Mr Brady said: 'It's just got worse and worse - we had to send 26 pupils home today, sometimes common sense has to rule.
'We've had a steady increase in the number of students and staff coming down with this. I think we've been hit with what is a perfect storm of bugs.
'Some of the students have experienced nausea and sweating, others had vomiting and diarrhoea.'
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The school has around 750 pupils aged 11-16 and Mr. Brady added: 'I've never experience it in all my time in teaching, it's certainly a very strange day.
'We took advice from the local authority so we've paid for a private company to come in and do a deep clean - hopefully in 72 hours the bug will be cleared out the system.'
It is expected that the pupils will recover from the bug within 72 hours.
A specialist company has now been hired to carry out a deep clean at the school in Mitcheldean in the Forest of Dean which is due to reopen on Monday
Mr Brady told parents: 'My only message is with the students don't let them go out and about at the weekend.
'Keep them in so they don't spread this amongst their friends.
'A good wash would go down very well so they can be back on Monday, nice and healthy.'
A primary school just eight miles away was also closed this week by a similar sickness bug which affected a quarter of pupils.
Some of the 202 pupils at St John's Church of England Academy started being sick on Monday and by Tuesday the number had doubled to 45.
Five staff also called in sick and the school in Coleford decided to close on Wednesday afternoon for a deep clean.
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