Revealed: Killer illness at Mukumu Girls School caused by polluted water
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The government yesterday linked the disease outbreak at Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls in Kakamega County to contamination of water at the institution, causing typhoid fever and amebiasis, even as Nation uncovered one case of cholera among the students.
Amebiasis is a disease caused by parasites and that is common in people who live in tropical areas with poor sanitary conditions
The school was closed indefinitely on Monday while Butere Boys Secondary School was closed the following day after some learners were also taken ill.
The outbreak of the disease at Mukumu Girls resulted in the deaths of two students and the hospitalisation of several others.
Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha yesterday said results from samples sent to the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) laboratory in Kisumu were positive for bacterial infections linked to gastroenteritis (a bacterial infection that causes diarrhoea and vomiting).
Some students had been infected with salmonella typhii (a bacteria that causes typhoid) and amebiasis (a parasitic infection of the intestines that causes stomach pain and diarrhoea). Many learners at both schools had complained of diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.
However, a parent whose daughter is a student at Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls shared with Nation her laboratory results showing that her stool sample tested positive for cholera. The student was treated at Kisumu Specialist Hospital while the tests were conducted at Path Care Kenya.
The parent said the girl was admitted to a private hospital after her condition deteriorated. She had initially been admitted to St Elizabeth Mission Hospital Mukumu but was transferred to Kisumu on Sunday.
“We had feared that the infections could be related to cholera or Marburg disease but the results from Kemri are negative,” Ms Nakhumicha said in Kakamega yesterday. She said that, at the Kakamega County General Hospital, one student was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit but was in stable condition.
“We have 26 students still admitted to Kakamega County General Hospital and St Elizabeth Mission Hospital Mukumu,” she said. The CS and Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang visited the school yesterday accompanied by other officials from the Ministry of Health. They inspected the kitchen, store for cereals and water storage tanks.
Main storage tank
The officials said the water, which is pumped to the main storage tank from a stream neighbouring the school, was suspected to be the source of contamination. The CS said a team from the Ministry of Water will visit the two schools today to collect water samples and ensure the tanks are cleaned. They will form part of a multi-agency team that will carry out inspections and make recommendations on how hygiene can be improved.
The CS said the Ministry of Health will issue guidelines on the handling of foodstuffs in schools.
Dr Kipsang said action will be taken against the schools’ managers if it will be established that they had been negligent.
Earlier, the CS had visited Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls students who are still admitted to the County General Hospital. She was told by the doctor in charge, Barbra Murila, that the learners had an infection that had affected their kidneys and liver.
Dr Murila said the patients had made some improvement but still had fever and injuries on the liver and kidneys, possibly caused by toxins.
“We have put them on antibiotics to try and manage the condition,” she explained.
Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls High School was closed on Monday after 246 students were admitted to different hospitals with fever, diarrhoea and vomiting.
The 97 students who were admitted to Butere Sub-county Hospital were discharged after their condition improved.
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa said an emergency team comprising health teams from the county and national government will be formed to look at the issue of hygiene in learning institutions in the region.
National Parents Association chair Silas Obuhatsa blamed Ministry of Education quality and assurance officers for failing to ensure that schools follow safety and hygiene standards. BY DAILY NATION
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