Student dies after several were admitted in Hospital last week. 246 students of Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls’ High School in Kakamega County were hospitalised with vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness.
The school’s BOM chair, Dr Josphat Kaswira, confirmed the death of one student but did not give more details.
The chair said that the matter is under discussion and the school management will issue more details after they are through with the meeting.
Sources from within told the Nation that the student had been sent home for treatment after she fell unwell. However her condition worsened while receiving treatment leading to her death.
At first about 124 students complained with the same symptoms and were admitted, but this number surged up to 246 with some of them complaining of fatigue and breathlessness.
Following the disease outbreak on Tuesday, the students were taken to Kakamega County General Hospital and the St Elizabeth Mukumu Hospital. By Saturday, 28 students were still Hospitalized and the rest had been treated and discharged.
Initial findings by doctors at the hospital showed that the learners might have suffered from food or water poisoning. Samples were collected and taken to the Kenya Medical Research Institute for analysis.
The county Senator Boni Khalwale visited the school on Friday and asked the Ministry of Health to close it to prevent a health crisis.
Senator Khalwale described the situation at the school as dire, adding that urgent measures should be put in place to address the underlying cause of the sickness. 20 new cases of students being admitted to hospital, presenting the same symptoms have been reported.
Shinyalu MP Frederick Ikana dismissed the call by Senator Khalwale, saying closing the school would impact negatively on the academic performance of the school.
The mandate for closing the school lies with the Ministry of Education. The MP has called upon the members of the public to calm and stop speculating about the situation. He wished those undergoing treatment a quick recovery.
Once Kemri issues its report, measures will be taken to improve conditions at the school, which has suffered similar cases in the past. Last year May, 28 students from the school were hospitalised with fever and diarrhea. This year one student dies after several were admitted. This year one student dies after several were admitted.
Again in July, two students from the school died while receiving treatment for a suspected malaria attack. Ministry of Health officials were sent to the school to investigate the causes of deaths linked to a malaria outbreak.
