Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (18)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by GOH, K T
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by GOH, K T
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1987 Oxford University Press

research-article

Epidemiological Enquiries into a School Outbreak of an Unusual Illness

K T GOH

Quarantine and Epidemiology Department, Ministry of the Environment 40 Scotts Road, Singapore 0922

A total of 65 students and one female teacher were afflicted with an unusual illness following alleged inhalation of a ‘gas’ in the school. The main symptoms were dizziness, chills, nausea, headache, difficulty in breathing and faintness. Initial investigations revealed elevated carboxyhaemoglobin levels (>5%) of 16 hospitalized students. However, no sources of carbon monoxide emission could be detected despite extensive environmental investigations. The out-break was characterized by the following features: most victims were adolescent girls; there was a high proportion of recurrences; the illness was self-limiting with inconsistent clinical and epidemiological findings; its mode of transmission was associated with antecedent visual observation or verbal information, and it died down immediately after confidence had been restored. A diagnosis of mass psychogenic illness was made. The high-risk students were Malay girls who were from the normal class (for slow learners), engaged in part-time employment and easily influenced by what they had heard or seen.

Received 1 September 1986


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Br. J. PsychiatryHome page
R. E. BARTHOLOMEW and S. WESSELY
Protean nature of mass sociogenic illness: From possessed nuns to chemical and biological terrorism fears
The British Journal of Psychiatry, April 1, 2002; 180(4): 300 - 306.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am J EpidemiolHome page
A. Gallay, F. Van Loock, S. Demarest, J. Van der Heyden, B. Jans, and H. Van Oyen
Belgian Coca-Cola-related Outbreak: Intoxication, Mass Sociogenic Illness, or Both?
Am. J. Epidemiol., January 15, 2002; 155(2): 140 - 147.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.