RALEIGH -- A suspected food-borne illness spread though an annual YMCA Youth & Government conference at a Raleigh hotel, sickening more than 150 of the 1,000 or so participants Friday night and Saturday morning.
Five of those who fell ill required hospitalization, said Jennifer Nelson, spokeswoman for the YMCA.
The rest were examined by emergency medical teams and treated at the downtown Sheraton Hotel, where the conference was held. Symptoms included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps and headaches. Some students were given intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration.
Most students returned to conference events, which continued as scheduled.
To respond to the outbreak, emergency medical teams came to the hotel from all over Wake County. At least 20 ambulances and several fire trucks were parked along Salisbury Street behind the hotel throughout Saturday morning.
Jeffrey Hammerstein, district chief of Wake County Emergency Medical Services, said treating the students at the hotel was more efficient than trying to send them all to hospital emergency rooms, and would be more comfortable for the students.
Wake County health investigators interviewed students Saturday afternoon to determine whether the illness might have been caused by a food-borne pathogen. A YMCA spokesman said all the students had attended a catered dinner Friday night at the Raleigh Convention Center.
Kitchen issues
Inspection records available through the county's food sanitation section indicate a history of cleanliness issues in the convention center's kitchen.
An inspector found that the dishwashing machine was not getting hot enough to sanitize items in March 2009. The problem was noted again in November with instructions to have the unit repaired. The inspector also noted that pans and utensils had been stored dirty, and that some hot foods were not kept hot enough. On that inspection, the restaurant was given a score of 88.5 out of 100, with two points' credit for employee training that raised the score to 90.5.
An inspection Feb. 3 did not mention the dishwasher but noted that a number of utensils, slicers, a food processor and pans were soiled. On that inspection, the restaurant scored 93, plus two points for employee training for a total score of 95.
Calls to Centerplate, the convention center's caterer, went unanswered Saturday at the company's Raleigh office and its corporate headquarters in Stamford, Conn. No one could be reached in the convention center office, and director Roger Krupa did not immediately respond to an e-mail.
Studying government
The YMCA Youth & Government conference is a four-day role-playing event that teaches high school students from across the state how public policy is developed. Students attend the conference with assigned roles as senators, House members, lobbyists and press representatives. The North Carolina conference is in its 17th year, Nelson said.
Lindsay Brown, 16, of Rocky Mount, attended as a lobbyist advocating for a bill that would require schools to serve special meals for students with food allergies. Her lesson in health-care advocacy struck a bit too close to home when, early Saturday morning, she started feeling sick.
Lindsay was sharing a room with three other girls, she said, and all but one had fallen ill. She sat in a hotel lobby between events clutching a pillow.
"I'm just going to get some ginger ale and try to wait it out," she said.
The conference ends today.
Wake County spokeswoman Marshall Parrish said epidemiologists were investigating the incident - a process that could take from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. It's possible, she said, that investigators will never know what caused the outbreak.
