MORE THAN 30 LEARNERS HOSPITALIZED OVER FOOD POISONING

BY STAFF REPORTER
Phooko: Thirty-nine pupils from Phooko Primary School in Dennilton were rushed to hospital on Tuesday 19 October after allegedly consuming poisonous food.
According to parents, the pupils started complain about stomach cramps and vomiting since last week Thursday on 14 October after eating the feeding scheme food at the school.
“My child started complaining about stomach cramps and headache in the morning of Thursday 14 October. I could not take it seriously until my neighbor’s child also started complaining with the same illness and they both had to skip school that day,” said a parent, Anna Ngomane.
Ngomane added that they started suspecting that the children ate poisonous food after noticing more parents started to raise similar concerns because their children were complaining about stomach cramps too . “It became worse this week on Tuesday when more reports from parents claiming that their children were unwell. Some were vomiting and that’s when we decided to rush them to the hospital. The doctors confirmed that the children consumed poisonous food,” she said. A community leader, James Masinga, said he was called by the parents to visit the school on Tuesday after more children started complaining with stomach cramps and headache. “When I arrive at the school in the morning, more than thirty learners were outside their classes with their parents complaining about stomach cramps while some were vomiting,” he said. Masinga said he immediately called Philadelphia Hospital requesting an ambulance to transport the affected learners to the hospital.
“The ambulance took long to arrive and some of the parents were impatient and started arranging their own transport to take the children to the hospital,” he said.
Masinga indicated that after the arrival of medical personnel , he followed the pupils to the hospital and it was confirmed that they consumed poisonous food.
“Currently, we are expecting a full report from the Department of Health regarding the incident and will hold a parent meeting to seek way forward,” he said.
Limpopo Department of Education Spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, said according the report they received from the school is that, a concern was raised after a certain pupils started complaining about stomach cramps.
“The pupils were observed and were showing symptoms of fever and complaining about headache. Their temperature was very high and they were treated at the nearest hospital,” she said.
Chuene said the pupils’ health started deteriorating before they could even touch the food which is provided by government for free .
“Our food supply for the month of October to the school has not expired, however, we are waiting for the results from the hospital,” she said. Thirty-eight of the thirty-nine pupils were treated and discharged the same day. One pupils whose condition was worsening was admitted at the hospital for further treatment. Authorities from the Department of Health had to shut down the school on Wednesday 20 October, to take samples of the water and food the children had eaten to the laboratory to investigate further. The pupils are expected to return to school on Monday 25 October after the Health Department completed the food poisoning probe to determine the cause of the sickness.