Blood, HIV Lecture Caused South Brunswick Students To Pass Out, School Says

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — It was a lecture on blood and HIV that caused three students to pass out in class Monday morning, the South Brunswick school district superintendent told Patch. The students were in a freshmen health class, Dr. Gary McCartney said, and the teacher was lecturing to the class about blood, blood transfusions, HIV/AIDs and other blood-related diseases.

Suddenly, two of the students felt faint and passed out at their desks. A third student, upon seeing them, passed out as well, he said. Seven other students told the teacher they felt nauseous, they said.

"The teacher really did everything correctly," Dr. McCartney said. "This was just a lecture and it was part of the standard curriculum. There were no slides, no pictures. But just the description alone may have made some students sick."

It is not uncommon for people to faint after seeing others faint, and that phenomenon can especially happen with teens, a South Brunswick EMT said. The incident led the teacher to call the principal's office, who decided to evacuate the entire high school and check the building's air quality, just as a precaution.

All testing was normal and students were allowed back into the building at 11 a.m. Monday.

Original Patch reporting: Lecture Sickens Students, South Brunswick High Evacuated