State health and education officials are investigating whether a spaghetti lunch served at a Waipahu school may have sickened about 40 students and two adults Tuesday afternoon.

Paramedics, dispatched at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to Waipahu Elementary School for 17 sick children, discovered closer to 40 experiencing dizziness, nausea and vomiting, and feeling clammy and sweaty, said Shayne Enright, Department of Emergency Services spokeswoman.

Students "became sick in waves," with the first class, who ate at 10:30 a.m., experiencing symptoms earlier than others, she said. Enright said most were first-graders, with some kindergarteners and older students.

Some 25 students were taken to four different hospitals by three ambulances and a city bus with an EMS paramedic on board. Of those, 16 were in serious condition and nine in stable condition.

"All apparently had food poisoning," Enright said.

EMS also took two staff members just before 5 p.m. — a woman in stable condition and a man in serious but stable condition — by ambulance to the hospital.

Some students were apparently taken by their parents to the hospital.

According to the DOE’s website, the school lunch Tuesday was spaghetti, romaine/spinach salad, pineapple and French roll.

DOEspokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said the school noticed younger children falling ill at 1:15 p.m., and school officials called EMS when the numbers reached double digits.

Parents were also notified, and advised to contact doctors if their children became ill.

The focus is on the lunch, which was prepared on campus, she said. Dela Cruz said Tuesday DOE officials should learn of the cause within 48 hours.

The DOE will provide temperature logs and a sample lunch to the state Health Departmentfor analysis, and information on other factors such as any food brought onto campus or whether anyone came to school sick, the DOE said.

"Our food services branch is collaborating with state health officials to pinpoint the source of today’s outbreak," Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said. "We thank parents for their patience, and we wish all students a speedy recovery."

Daryl Bonilla said in a telephone interview that his 7-year-old daughter, Leila Marie, wasn’t showing any symptoms as of Tuesday evening, but he planned to keep a close eye on her. He said Leila told him some of her schoolmates started feeling sick immediately after lunch.

Even more students got sick toward the end of the school day, she said, adding that kids were throwing up, sweating or complaining of stomach pains. She said none of her second-grade classmates had gotten sick during school.

Bonilla, a single parent, said he’s feeling skeptical about the school’s lunches and is considering packing lunches from home. "That is a concern now moving forward. Tomorrow is there going to be an issue?" he said.