Eight children taken to hospital after seizure-like symptoms at church concert

Eight children at the concert were taken to hospital (AP)

Eight children at a church near Harvard University in Massachusetts where a French youth choir was holding a concert suffered seizure-like symptoms and were taken to hospital, officials in the US said.

The symptoms were not life-threatening, the Cambridge Fire Department said.

About 70 other people who attended the concert at St Paul’s Parish in Harvard Square were not affected.

Crews first received a call about a child suffering from a seizure. When firefighters arrived, the child was sitting outside the church but was not actively having a seizure, fire chief Thomas Cahill said.

“That quickly escalated into seven other people having seizure-like symptoms,” Mr Cahill told WCVB-TV.

The department’s hazmat team “completed a thorough survey of the St Paul buildings utilising several air sampling meters to ensure that no hazardous conditions were present”, a statement said. “Results were negative and the buildings were ventilated.”

St Paul’s Facebook Page said a French youth choir was offering a free concert at the church on Tuesday night as part of its US tour.