Children treated for suspected food poisoning
58 primary school children suspected to have suffered from food poisoning.
PUPILS from Nibela Primary School near Hluhluwe were taken to Mseleni Hospital where they were treated for suspected food poisoning.
The 58 school children complained of abdominal pain and were vomiting after eating lunch from the school’s feeding scheme on Thursday.
A further 408 pupils were sent to neighbouring Ezimpondweni and Mduku Clinics, closer to the school.
‘The conditions of most of the children were not severe’, said Mseleni Hospital’s Dr Victor Fredlund.
‘Among those who came to the hospital, only two children complained of abdominal pain and only one, who seemed to be sickly, was taken to x-ray and later discharged’, said the doctor.
Fredlund thanked KZN Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for the quick response in transporting the children to the hospital.
‘In a nutshell, the cases were managed well at the hospital and its clinics, pupils were triaged well and supplied with food as they slept overnight,’ Dr Fredlund said.
On Friday morning, the pupils were reassessed, found to be clinically well and sent back to school. The cause of the food poisoning is currently under investigation.
I hope this incident has been reported to Environmental Health Services for investigation. It would help curbing such outbreaks.