On July 8, Mr. Nay Phi La - Director of Dak Lak Provincial Department of Health - said that the unit had received a document from the Ministry of Health and directed specialized units to urgently review and investigate the case of dozens of students suspected of food poisoning that occurred at a private school in Tan An ward.
According to Mr. Nay Phi La, the health sector is urgently compiling statistics on the number of cases, conducting epidemiological investigations, taking samples for testing and tracing the origin of food. Up to now, functional agencies have not yet made an official conclusion on the cause of the incident.
At the Department of General Pediatrics, Tay Nguyen Regional General Hospital, the unit receiving a number of students suspected of food poisoning, all have epidemiological factors related to a school in the area.
The pediatric patients were hospitalized on July 4 and 5 with symptoms of abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and some cases of high fever. After examination, they were diagnosed with suspected food poisoning monitoring. However, the health of the pediatric patients was stable and responded to treatment. The hospital has taken samples for testing and coordinated with medical agencies to investigate the cause.
Previously, after lunch on July 3, nearly 40 students from grades 1 to 12 of the school showed symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and had to go to medical facilities for examination and treatment.
Faced with the above developments, the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) has issued a document requesting the Department of Health of Dak Lak province to urgently investigate and clarify the cause of the incident.
The Ministry of Health requests the Department of Health to coordinate with relevant agencies to focus on treating and monitoring the health of students; and at the same time to trace the origin of food, take samples for testing, identify raw material suppliers and strictly handle violating organizations and individuals (if any).
In addition, the Ministry of Health also requested localities to strengthen inspection and supervision of compliance with food safety regulations at collective kitchens, especially school kitchens; improve the responsibility of heads of educational institutions in organizing semi-boarding meals to prevent similar food poisoning cases.
