44 fall sick after supper
THE STAR
TAPAH: Another food poisoning incident happened in Perak with 43 students and a teacher from SM Sains Tapah (Sesta) coming down with vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach ache after supper. It’s the second such case that happened in the boarding school.
Thirty-two of them were warded at the Tapah Hospital on Sunday and were later in stable condition. One student opted to go to a private hospital while 11 more people were under observation at the hostel’s sick bay. Those affected were aged between 13 and 50.
This follows an incident on Oct 2, 2013, when 280 students were struck by food poisoning after eating chicken kurma for dinner.
Fifteen-year-old Najmie Kamaruddin, who looked pale and frail at the Tapah Hospital ward, said he was getting better after receiving treatment and hoped to recover quickly to go back to school.
The boy from Rawang said he had roti jala and chicken curry provided by the caterer for supper on Saturday and did not feel anything until Sunday morning when he started vomiting and had the runs. He then informed his teacher and was taken to hospital.
“Many students were also similarly unwell,” he added.
Another student, Nur Illyliya Hannim Ahmad Nasri, 13, said the food was no different that day but she felt weak and ill on Sunday.
“I just joined this school three months ago and this happened. A lot of students struggled with the symptoms of food poisoning.”
Her mother Norhana Auzairy, 40, who came from Kuala Kangsar with her husband yesterday, said she was shocked to hear the news.
“She was supposed to go home last weekend but had decided not to since it was just a weekend break.”
Yesterday, State Health Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon and state Health director Datuk Dr Juita Ghazalie visited the students at the hospital and went to the school to inspect the kitchen and meet the students in the sick bay.
“We are seriously looking into this issue. Much effort has been taken by the Health Department to monitor the food quality and cleanliness at eateries,” said Dr Mah.
He added that they would suggest to the Education Ministry to improve the weaknesses in school canteens and hostel kitchens.
Yesterday, a statement from the ministry said the school canteen was ordered to be closed from 6pm since Sunday to enable cleaning work to be carried out in the canteen and also to stop the spread of communicable diseases.
Since January, three hostel canteens in Perak have recorded food poisoning cases.
The Health Department has sealed the kitchen at Sesta and enlisted an outside caterer to provide food for the students.
On March 4, 103 people were struck with food poisoning after consuming food at a stall in Siputeh, near Batu Gajah. One of them died after 19 days in hospital.
Food at the stall was later found to be tainted with carbamate, which is found in pesticides.
