No cause for alarm over food poisoning at Archbishop Porter Girls

Health officials at the Holy Child Catholic Hospital at Fijai say there is no cause for alarm in the case of food poisoning recorded at the Archbishop Porter Girls Senior High School in Takoradi Friday morning.

About 60 students of the school were reportedly rushed to the Hospital Friday at about 4:00am after they started vomiting and experiencing diarrhoea said to have been caused by food poisoning from vegetables they bought from a vendor on campus.

News of the events triggered fear among some parents, but the school authorities and the health officials at the Holy Child Catholic Hospital say the situation is currently under control hence no cause for alarm.

Medical Superintendent, Dr Sylvester Fameye, who examined the students, says some of them were very weak and had to be helped into the ward.

However, he “we had to admit 15 of them due to their condition” but the others were treated and discharged.

“When I got to the hospital this dawn, students numbering about sixty to seventy were here. Majority of them, according to account, had passed like five stool and vomited four times. So they were stable.

“Those who were stable and had passed 3 to 4 stools; we treated and discharged them. Because of challenge with space, we decided to organize a team from the hospital, gave them IV fluid and antibiotics and sent them to the school together with the students who were weak” Dr Fameye said.

He emphasised that there is no cause for alarm as the students have been treated and sent back to school, saying “let me add that there is no cause for alarm as everything is now normal. There has not been any casualty”.

The Headmistress of the Archbishop Porter’s Girls Senior High, Ms Charlotte Asiedu-Musah thus assuring the situation has been brought under total control.

She took 3news.com to the school’s infirmary where some of the students were receiving medical attention to confirm that everything was under control. Asiedu-Musah said only 37 students were affected and not 60 as mentioned.

According to her some of them had returned to the classroom.

“As you can see the students are even chatting happily among themselves. Some of them just left for class and there has not been any complain from their teachers and colleagues that they are inactive” she said.

Officials from the Western Region and Sekondi – Takoradi Metro Office of the Ghana Education Service were at the school to apprise themselves of the situation.