175-200 students are out sick at a high school in Dearborn Heights after the spread of an infection

Dearborn Heights, Mich. (WXYZ) - About 175-200 students are out sick at a school in Dearborn Heights and it forced school officials to cancel classes for Friday.

 Students at Annapolis High School started to fall ill on Wednesday. At the end of the day Wednesday, 50 children were home sick. That number more than tripled for Thursday and on top of that, 15 teachers called in sick. The school had to call in substitute teachers to handle the class loads. 

Health officials believe the norovirus is going around the school. The health department will be testing to try and confirm the infection. Superintendent Jeffrey Bartold tells 7 Action news students had symptoms of vomiting, sweating, and headaches which are all symptoms of the norovirus.  The sickness is very contagious. 

The district hired a cleaning company scrub down affected areas and surfaces in the building on Friday. The superintendent also warns parents to have their children take preventative measures and to keep an eye out for symptoms.

“So the parents know, the biggest thing to do is make sure their kids wash their hands,”  said Superintendent Bartold. “If they have any flu like symptoms to keep your kids home until the symptoms are gone because they can, even after someone feels better, be in a person’s system for up to three days after,” he said.

All weekend activities at the school are canceled. School will be open again for class on Monday