CHICAGO, March 11 (UPI) -- Chicago public school officials were trying to find out what caused an outbreak of itching that sent 31 students to area hospitals for decontamination.
Some of the children in Wednesday's outbreak at Cameron School were required to remove their clothes as health workers in hazmat suits scrubbed them down, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
"Mommy, that was the worst thing that ever happened to me," one fifth-grader told her mother.
The incident required the students to be decontaminated because they showed symptoms of "some kind of chemical exposure," health workers said.
"They looked like astronauts,'' Lisa Andino, chair of the Cameron Local School Council, said of the hazmat team.
Two children began complaining of itching on their arms Wednesday after watching a pep rally in the school's auditorium.
Officials speculated the outbreak was due to "mischievous activity."
"I don't think it was a prank," said a parent who asked to remain anonymous. "I think it was something on the chairs because most kids got it on their arms. Some cheerleaders wearing skirts got it on the back of their legs."
