25 pupils suffer food poisoning in Sharjah

About 25 students of the Emirates National School in Sharjah fell ill after they ate food from a food charity bazar organised by the school on Wednesday. The students were rushed, separately by their parents, to Zulekha Hospital and are reported to have suffered food poisoning

Sharjah authorities, including the Ministry of Health, municipality and Education Zone have launched intensified investigations on the case.

According to medical staff at the hospital, the students arrived at the emergency room one after another with the same symptoms, including abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and dehydration. Realising the enormity of the issue involving several children with similar symptoms of food poisoning, the hospital staff notified the health authorities and the municipality.

Out of the 25 taken ill, 12 students were discharged on the same day, six were admitted for a night and seven are still receiving treatment at the hospital.

According to an official from the school management, the students consumed food during the food charity bazar wherein students brought food from their homes to sell it and raise money for charity.

All students - from Grade 1 to 12 - brought food of different types and sold it to each other. Although the students fell ill not on the school premises but in their homes, the school management was apprised about the mater by the parents.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, two sisters - Neha and Daya Hussain from Grade 10 and 5 respectively - who were struck with food poisoning and are currently admitted in the hospital, said they bought food such as Arabic food, salads, cupcake, and sweets from several students, but couldn't pinpoint which food item was responsible for causing the sickness.

"I spent Dh20 on various types of food items which cost between Dh2 and Dh3 each and ate them all during the day," said one of the Hussain sisters.

Their father, Mohammed Hussain, said that during the middle of the night both his daughters started vomiting, complained of loose motions, and had very high fever. He then rushed them to Zulekha Hospital and informed the doctor that they ate at their school event.

"The doctor said that many students from the same school were admitted in the emergency ward with the same symptoms. The hospital provided good care to my daughters who are now fine," he said.

An official from the health department of the Sharjah Municipality said that they were notified by the Ministry of Health about the incident and immediately a team of inspectors rushed to the hospital and questioned the victims about the food. The team also launched investigations to determine which food item triggered the food poisoning."