Hyderabad: Three teenage tribal students from the ashram high school at Wankidi mandal in Komaram Bheem district were admitted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) recently with complaints of food poisoning. While the condition of two girls is stable, one is on mechanical ventilator support, as per Nims director Dr Bheerappa Nagari.
The director told Deccan Chronicle that the source of the food poisoning was not confirmed, but all three of them were showing symptoms of gastroenteritis and were being treated with antibiotics and fluid therapy. Two students were admitted on November 3 and the third student, currently on ventilator support, was admitted on Tuesday.
Following this, the state minister for health minister Damodar Rajanarsimha spoke with Dr Bheerappa over the phone and provide to provide free treatment to the students. Ministers Konda Surekha and Ponnam Prabhakar also visited the students, and told their parents that the government was paying close attention to the health of the girls.
Dr Beerappa and nephrology head of department Unit-2 Dr Gangadhar Taduri briefed the ministers. Surekha asked the director to ensure that the families of the patients were provided with special accommodation and meals.
BRS leader and ex-health minister T. Harish Rao also visited the hospital to check on the students. He highlighted that several such cases have been reported in the past few months from gurukul schools.
" As far as I know, 36 students have died due to various reasons in government-run residential schools. This is not a trivial matter—on average, three students die every month in these schools. The government needs to seriously reconsider its approach. Nearly 600 students have suffered from food poisoning in the past seven months," he said.
Minister Surekha clarified that the students did not fall ill due to the food served at the hostel, but rather from food brought from home. Staff members who consumed the hostel food were reported to be in good health. She also mentioned that once the reports on the food samples are received and if the officials are found to be responsible for this incident, disciplinary action will be taken against them.
