Times Of Swaziland: Experts called to ascertain  cause of 32 pupils’ sickness

Experts called to ascertain  cause of 32 pupils’ sickness
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BY KWANELE DHLADHLA on 13/08/2013 03:42:00


MBABANE –  Medical experts have been roped in to ascertain the cause of the
sickness which attacked 32 pupils from Mathews Phosa College. This was confirmed
by the colleges  Administrator Daryl Lopes during an interview yesterday
morning.
Diarrhoea
Lopes claimed that he suspected that pupils did not have diarrhoea but ate a
substance which caused stomach problems.
“We suspect that the pupils ate or drank something that was contagious but
never had diarrhoea. However, I am not in a position to categorically state what
the disease was because medical reports have not yet been submitted to the
school,” Lopes said.
MSN news’ website reported that; “A team from the department has been
dispatched to the school to test the water and food there. At this stage we do
not know exactly what caused them to fall sick, but it is suspected that it
could have been  something in the food they ate,” spokesman Ronnie Masilela
said.
“All the pupils, in Grades VIII to 12, are from the Mathews Phosa College in
Nelspruit. The school had over 300 pupils,” Masilela said.
Twenty-one were released from the Rob Ferreira Hospital on Saturday evening.
Six were released on Sunday. The remaining five were still under observation.
Masilela said one of the teachers who ate the same meal as the pupils said she
did not feel sick.
It is believed that some of the pupils who were hospitalised were Swazis.
However, the number of Swazi pupils who were hospitalised could not be confirmed
by the time of compiling this report.