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Was My Kid "glutened" Or Is It A Stomach Bug?

Benshell

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Benshell Explorer
Benshell
Posted

I'm hoping some experienced parents can help me figure this out.

My 8 year old daughter was sent home sick from school yesterday. The school nurse said that several kids were sent home sick with a "quick stomach bug" that is going around. This was at 3pm (she got sick at about 2:30). She was throwing up about every 1/2 hour, fell asleep for an hour and a half, threw up a few more times and was done with it by 6pm. No fever, no diahrea....just severe stomach pain and vomiting over the course of about 3 hours.

Here's my concern: My daughter bought lunch at school that day at about 12:15. The cafeteria has 1 person prepare a special gluten free meal for her that is stored seperate from the other kids. They do not use the same equipment because of contamination issues. SHe has bought lunch about 6 times in the past few months and never had a bad response - everything has been perfect. She said that she had a new type of chicken strip (usually Bell & Evans).

Her previous reaction to being "glutened" about a year ago at a party eating chips from the same bowl as everyone else (the chips were gluten-free, but everyone was having bread) was vomiting for a few hours after ingestion and then being fine. This most recent experience seems to mimic it exactly, but the fact that a bug is going around makes me question it.

What are your thoughts? I'm going to notify head of food services just in case so they can check the ingredients of this new chicken, but I don't want to be accusitory as it could just be a bug.

I wish there was a quick test...like diabetics have for their finger that could tell parents whether its gluten or not.

Thanks for your help.

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cdog7 Contributor
cdog7
Posted

That's a tough one. When I get glutened I have a different kind of reaction, one that I've learned over time to recognize. To me it sounds like your daughter reacted the way she does to gluten, but it also sounds like her typical reaction also closely mimics a stomach virus

Ollie's Mom Apprentice
Ollie's Mom
Posted

I'd say it's probably a 50/50 chance.

I'd call the school and confirm the ingredients in the new chicken but start off with your thought that it was possibly the virus that was going around, but you just wanted to double check since it coincided with the new food at lunch.

Good luck and I hope it was just a stomach bug.

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