18 Nyabururu Girls High School students treated for food poisoning

At least 18 Nyabururu Girls High School have since Thursday been treated for suspected food poisoning in Kisii town hospitals. PHOTO | RUTH MBULA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The students complained of severe stomach pains, dizziness while others were vomited or suffered diarrhoea.

  • The school principal Joyce Orioki downplayed the incident, saying it was nothing to worry about.

At least 18 students from Nyabururu Girls High School have been in and out of the Nyangena Hospital in Kisii town over suspected food poisoning since Thursday.

On Saturday, the school circulated a message to all parents seeking to dispel fake news spread on social media that more than 100 students had been taken sick.

“Dear parent, kindly ignore malicious news circulating on social media that all girls are admitted in hospital. There are only seven girls who were admitted and discharged over various ailment, their parents were informed.”

But students who secretly informed their parents of their ill health after borrowing phones from other patients said they had been cautioned against informing anyone of their state.

“The school administration claimed that we were pretending and delayed in helping us seek proper medication,” said one of the girls at the hospital.

The students complained of severe stomach pains, dizziness while others were vomited or suffered diarrhoea.

"We are given bad food at the school. The kitchen is dirty,” said another.

The hospital management, however, declined to comment on the issue.

The school principal Joyce Orioki downplayed the incident, saying it was nothing to worry about.