Multiple cases of hand-foot-and-mouth disease have been confirmed at West.  The number of reported cases is currently unknown.

In order to avoid contracting the virus, the recommended prevention techniques are to wash your hands frequently, keep out of contact with those who are sick and regularly wipe down surfaces. Precautions have been taken in the weight room, where students often share equipment.

“We’ll spray [the weights] down, and it’s kind of a continuous spray to the weights [and] everything that’s being touched by students…the night crew does a cleaning every night,” physical welfare teacher Christopher Vivone said.

According to Mayo Clinic, hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a mild illness usually caused by coxsackievirus A16. The condition is primarily spread among younger children, but adults are still able to contract the virus. Should one have hand-foot-and-mouth, symptoms include sores in the mouth, and rashes on hands and feet. Symptoms also include fever, sore throat and loss of appetite. It requires a medical diagnosis.

Rumors have spread around school related to the virus’s source and transmission. Many students believe that the virus is spreading in the weight room; however, P.E. director Joseph Collins confirms that there is no correlation between the weight room and the confirmed cases of the virus. The virus can spread through any infected surface.

“The weight room, just like tables, desks, the lunchroom…lockers [are] things that lots of people touch throughout the day…We just want to be mindful of those areas,” Collins said.

Junior Gabriela Gonzales takes Varsity P.E. and is worried she will contract the virus from the weight room.

“I think it’s a little nerve-wracking considering a lot of students work out there and don’t want to get sick,” Gonzales said.

Some students learned about the virus from their P.E. teacher.

“Last week, one of the P.E. teachers announced that there was some sort of hand, foot and mouth disease going around, and they were trying to implement cleaning wipes for the weight room and the weights. We still haven’t gotten anything, so I think being in an environment that potentially [exposes] us to diseases is nerve wracking,” senior Alvina Joseph said.

According to Collins, teachers cannot speak on certain student information.

“You can say things that are very broad like ‘we need to clean the weight room.’ We want to make sure we’re being healthy, but we should never say things that are specific to us [or] a student case,” Collins said.