400 school kids downed by food poisoning

Some 400 students of an elementary school in Sta. Ana, Manila were downed over the weekend apparently by food poisoning, believed to have been caused by contaminated egg sandwiches and drinks they bought at the school canteen on Friday.

Reports reaching the Department of Education (DepEd) showed that 205 of the victims were taken to the Ospital ng Maynila, 57 to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), 37 to the Lourdes Hospital and 15 to the Mandaluyong Medical Center.

The victims, all students of the Thomas Earnshaw Elementary School in Punta, Sta. Ana, complained of dizziness, stomach pain and headache, and showed symptoms of diarrhea.

Parents said their children started to manifest signs of illness on Saturday night. The following morning, most of them were running a fever.

As of yesterday afternoon, more stricken children were being brought to various hospitals.Some of them were sent home after treatment.

Dr. Thelma Santos, director of the DepEd-School Health and Nutrition Center, has ordered a probe.

"This will be investigated thoroughly. We are closely coordinating with the hospitals to determine their findings on the students. Food and drink samples will also be taken from the canteen for examination," Santos said.

Most of the victims, aged between 7 and 12, recalled eating egg sandwiches and drinking juice at the school canteen on Friday, but did not notice anything wrong with the food.

Grade 5 student Alvin Maglaki told The STAR that on Saturday night, he suffered severe headache and stomach pain. By yesterday morning he had a fever and was vomiting continuously, prompting his parents to rush him to the PGH.

Angeline Cabiling, 10, said she had the same experience.

Dr. Ma. Luisa Quiñones, DepEd superintendent for Manila, cleared the school principal, Dr. Ofelia Viray, of any culpability.

"It’s premature to say at this time that the students fell ill because of the food sold in the canteen. Dr. Viray is known for cleanliness. Before the opening of classes, she even had the water tank cleansed," Quiñones said.

She pointed out that if the food and drinks at the school canteen were spoiled, she was puzzled why the symptoms manifested late.

"I am not a doctor and I could not understand why it took almost 24 hours before the students fell ill if it was because of the food at the school canteen," Quiñones said.

A PGH doctor who asked not to be identified said incubation period for diseases varies. "It depends on the micro-organism strain. In this case, we still don’t know what hit them."