"Just before 5 o'clock, someone raised the alarm that something was amiss when 21 people had fallen sick in rapid succession after exposure to chemical fumes. Emergency personnel rushed to the scene to deal with the "possible hazardous materials incident." All the victims were treated on site-except for one person who was taken to a hospital as a precaution. The symptoms were said to include breathing problems and dizziness."
"This case has key hallmarks of mass psychogenic illness. It just takes one person to trigger an event in a busy, crowded place. To begin with, the most common trigger of episodes is the perception of an unfamiliar smell, and the most common symptoms are breathing difficulty and hyperventilation, along with dizziness, headache, and nausea. Symptoms are transient and benign, and feature a rapid onset and recovery."
Late afternoon on September 8, a sudden wave of illness occurred in Terminal 4 at London's Heathrow Airport, with 21 people falling sick after reported exposure to chemical fumes. Emergency responders treated victims on site and one person was transported to hospital as a precaution. Symptoms included breathing difficulties, dizziness, headache, nausea, and hyperventilation. Metropolitan Police found no trace of any hazardous substance and authorities characterized the event as mass psychogenic illness. Mass psychogenic illness involves real, transient physical symptoms produced by collective stress and belief rather than an environmental toxin. Perception of an unfamiliar odor commonly triggers such episodes.
Read at Psychology Today
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