On the morning of April 29, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety initially announced the suspected food poisoning incident at Dang Thuy Tram Elementary School (Tan Thuan ward). Immediately after receiving information about the incident, the unit issued a decision to establish an investigation team to handle the incident; directly coordinate with local authorities, the health sector and Dang Thuy Tram Elementary School to implement handling measures according to regulations.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety has organized reviews and statistics of suspected food poisoning cases; collected patient information at medical examination and treatment facilities. At the same time, conducted epidemiological investigations, verified suspected meals; conducted actual inspections at schools and catering units; assessed conditions for processing, preserving, and transporting food; and traced the origin of raw materials.
At the same time, taking food samples stored, drinking water samples being used for testing and requesting individuals participating in processing, dividing meals, serving meals to perform fecal tests to serve the investigation and determine the cause of the incident.
According to initial summary information, by the afternoon of April 28, there were 46 cases of students with suspected food poisoning symptoms coming for examination and treatment at medical facilities. Among them, 29 cases are being treated as inpatients and 17 cases are being monitored and treated as outpatients. Currently, the health of the students is being monitored and cared for by medical facilities.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety is continuing to closely coordinate with relevant units to urgently investigate and clarify the cause of the incident and will officially inform when there are results.
As Lao Dong Newspaper reported, according to Children's Hospital 2, the results of fecal sample testing of a case detected Salmonella spp bacteria. This is a very common group of bacteria that cause digestive diseases, often related to food poisoning.
