Candy sends dozens of students to hospital

GBI, Fulton County Board of Health look into why Sandtown Middle School children fell ill.

More than two dozen students were sent to hospitals on Valentine’s Day after eating snacks and candy that were brought to a south Ful- ton County middle school Thursday.

The Sandtown Middle School students were taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta campuses at Hughes Spalding and Egleston and Grady Memorial Hospital after being evaluated by paramedics, Fulton County Schools officials said.

The district in i tially reported 21 students had been taken to hospitals, but the number grew to 28 by late Thursday afternoon.

Several students complained about feeling “nauseated and disoriented,” Cliff Jones, the district’s chief academic officer, said in a statement. “When students began reporting their symptoms, we partnered with local municipalities to immediately get them medical attention as quickly as possible.

“For t he safety of all, stu d ents and staff were instructed not to eat anything given to them by another person and not to eat anything they didn’t bring from their own home,” he said.

The district’s police department was investigating “but does not yet have a determination of what led to the students feeling ill,” he said Thursday afternoon.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta spokeswoman Jessica Pope said earlier that “patients are now currently under observation by physicians.”

Epidemiologists led by the Fulton County Board of Health are looking into the incident, and food samples are being tested by the GBI.

The health board is trying to determine the cause of the sickness. Spokeswoman Alicia Cardwell Alston said officials should know more by this morning.

Fulton School Board President Linda Bryant, who represents the area that includes Sandtown Middle School, said that the district’s area superintendent and other staff went to the two hospitals and were monitoring how the children were doing.