Concerns about CO poisoning's long-term effects prompt health checks of LaSalle schoolchildren

Public health officials are following thechildren who were exposed to carbon monoxide that's suspected of havingleaked from theirLaSalle elementary school's faulty furnacein January.

The Montreal regional health board held aclinic at cole des Dcouvreursover three days in late February, referring on 99 students to a pediatrician forfurther checkups.

"Carbon monoxide can have delayed or persistent effects," said Dr. MaximeRoy, aconsulting physician with the agency."There's a need for people who have been exposed to carbon monoxide to be evaluated again roughly four weeks after they've been exposed."

"We wanted to make sure there would be no obstacles to the students having that follow-up caused by them having to travel to the hospital," Roy said.

In all, 244studentswere examined. First, they were evaluated by a nurse or medical resident, who went through their responses to aquestionnaire about expected symptoms.

That determined which students required anadditional medical evaluation by a pediatrician on site, Roy said.

The99 students included children whowere taken to hospital by ambulance on the day of exposureand those whose parents took them to a doctor after they showed symptoms. Some of them were examined by a pediatrician as a matter of course, whether or not they still felt sick.

Other students who seemed fine after the exposure but had symptoms later were also examined.

Roy said the majority of the children are expected to make a completerecovery, but "from what we know about carbon monoxide poisoning, we expectthat some unlucky children will have delayed or persistent effects."

Teachers also checked

The health board held a separate follow-up clinic for teachers and other school staff on March 1.

Around 40 adults were seen at that time, but the results are not yet available, saidJean-Nicholas Aub, a spokesperson for the agency that oversees Montreal's south-central sector,theCIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'le-de-Montral.

Fire officials said at the time of the incident, the carbon monoxide levels in the school's hallways were as much asfive times higher than levelsthat would normally trigger an evacuation.

A faulty furnace system is believed to have caused the problem.The heating system had been inspected by a specialized team before winter, Marguerite-Bourgeoysschool board chair Diane Lamarche-Venne said last month.

Lamarche-Venne said there was a carbon monoxide detector atcole des Dcouvreurs that was inspected in mid-October.

"Everything was functional," she said at that time.

In the aftermath of the incident, the board committedtocheck allof its 80 schools to make sure they had working carbon monoxide detectors.

The provincial government also said it would change its regulations to require that all schools have gas detectors and that they be inspectedannually.