250 Eastern Cape pupils discharged after food poisoning saga

22 February 2018 - 11:13 By Kgaugelo Masweneng
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The learners were admitted to Mthatha Regional Hospital‚ Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital and St Barnabas Hospital before being discharged.
The learners were admitted to Mthatha Regional Hospital‚ Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital and St Barnabas Hospital before being discharged.
Image: iStock

More than 200 pupils were treated and discharged on Thursday morning after they were hospitalised with symptoms of food poisoning in Ngqeleni in the Eastern Cape.

The 250 pupils are from Ndamase Senior Secondary School in the area.

Eastern Cape health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the learners had symptoms such as vomiting‚ stomach cramps and headaches.

“At the moment an ambulance has responded to yet another call at the school. We are not sure if they are attending to new ones or the same learners who were discharged this morning‚” said Kupelo on Thursday morning.

He said the learners were admitted to three hospitals before being discharged: Mthatha Regional Hospital‚ Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital and St Barnabas Hospital.

This was not the only incident in recent times. Early this month more than 50 adults and children who ate the meat of a dead cow were rushed to various hospitals in the province.

In October last year 200 children from Mlindazwe junior secondary school in Mbizana‚ in the Eastern Cape were kept overnight at hospital for observation due to alleged food poisoning.

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