Contaminated fried chicken wings were the main cause of food poisoning that killed one student and hospitalised over 660 teachers and students at a school in Nha Trang City last week.
The food served to students at Ischool Nha Trang during lunch on November 17
Initial results from Nha Trang's Pasteur Institute of the samples taken from the foods served to the students and teachers during lunch on November 17 have found some bacteria including Salmonella spp, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli in the chicken wings. The Bacillus cereus bacteria was also found in the fish sauce served that day.The bacteria is resistant to some antibiotics, such as Gentamicin, Amikacin and Tobramicin, said a representative of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Health.
A report from the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee said that 14 more students were sent to hospitals on November 22, bringing the total number of people hospitalised in this case to 662. At present, over 130 people are still being treated while others have been discharged.
Initial investigations showed that 930 students were given a meal of chicken rice, egg sauce, chicken salad, fried chicken wings, soup and cakes.
Several hours after the meal, many children showed clinical symptoms of food poisoning infections such as abdominal pain, diarrhoea, fever, vomiting, and nausea, and they were immediately taken to local hospitals. One student died due to serious illness.
A student being treat in hospital
Le Thi Kim Uyen, mother of a grade four student shared that when her child had stomachache, she asked what he ate for lunch at school. And the boy said that he ate chicken but the fried chicken wings smell old and taste very bad.
"As his condition got worse in the afternoon, I had to rush him to the hospital," the mother said.
Another mother of a grade two student, Lang Kieu Thu, said that her daughter often complained about poor food quality at the school.
"We have to pay VND 70,000 for a meal at the school," she said. "And it's unfair when they feed our children frozen and fast food including sausage, chicken wings, and fish balls."
On November 20 ISchool Nha Trang held a meeting with hundreds of parents whose children caught food poisoning infections.
Pham Huu Binh, head of the school, admitted responsibility for the incident and requested relevant agencies launch an investigation into the cause of the case.
ISchool Nha Trang is part of the ISchool chain of international schools. Besides Nha Trang, the chain has also developed schools in many other localities nationwide.
