16 girl students fall sick due to suspected food poisoning in hostel in Mangaluru

After 16 girl students of a private nursing college hostel complained of mild diarrhoea, vomiting, and abdominal pain on Sunday night, the district health and family welfare department visited the hostel and inspected the surrounding areas.

The department is closely monitoring the health of the students and no fresh cases were reported on Monday, DHO Dr Kishore Kumar told DH.

He said soon after receiving information he along with District Surveillance Officer Dr Jagadeesh visited the hostel and also the hospital where the students were treated as outpatients.

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The DHO said that out of 115 students in the hostel, 16 had complained of illness. Of the 16 students, only four students opted for IV fluids before leaving the hospital.

The local PHC doctor and his team visited the hostel and collected samples of water and food. “I too visited the spot where food is prepared for the hostel. We did not find anything abnormal. The exact reason behind the students falling sick is yet to be ascertained,” said the DHO. All the students who fell sick are stable, he added.

The DHO said that the district health team is visiting various hostels run by the government and also private colleges including those of paramedical colleges, and medical colleges for the last two to three months, to check on the water source, quality of food supplied, the area where food is stored and prepared, to ensure that cleanliness and hygiene are maintained in the hostel campuses.

The team has already visited 25 hostels randomly. “We have already issued a detailed circular on maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in the hostels and the report on the random visit to hostels is also submitted to the Deputy Commissioner.”