Diarrhea kills student, 41 others hospitalised in Kaduna

From Femi Oyelola, Ibrahim Mohammed Kaduna

One student of Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Kawo, Kaduna, has been confirmed dead as a result of diarrhea while over 41, others are on admission in Kawo General Hospital Kaduna North Local Government Area.
The State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Paul Dogo disclosed this during an emergency visit to the school and the Kawo General Hospital yesterday.
Dr. Dogo said the students on admission are responding to treatment, while more health personnel have been drafted to salvage the situation.
The Commissioner added that the State Government is also putting in measures to ensure that no more casualty is recorded.
Similarly, the State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Alhaji Sani Jafaru, said the Ministry in collaboration with Ministry of Health will work together to ensure that the situation is curtailed.
Investigation by this reporter shows that the contamination must have been from the well which is the only source of water supply in the school.
Explaining this, the Commissioner for Health said the 3 days power outage suffered by the school did not enable the borehole to pump water for student’s usage.
A parent, Ibrahima Yakubu, whose daughter is among the students taken to the Hospital said he was scared of the situation.
“I want them to take urgent steps at halting the situation, so as not to go out of hands,” he said.
As at the time of filing in this report, many parents were seen driving down to the school to pick up their wards for fear of being infected, but were discouraged by the Commissioner for Education, Sani Jafaru who was on ground to monitor the situation.