A video emerged of Eregi Girls students in Kakamega County being admitted to various hospitals in the region behaving and walking like “zombies”. This caused a fuss online which pushed the government to act immediately to get to the root of the matter. And new details are emerging.
According to health officials, the students suffered from hysteria due to fear of the coming exams. More than 108 students showed symptoms of weak limbs and shaking body which prompted tests at the Kakamega County General Hospital, Mukumu Mission hospital and others which ruled out the possibility of any infection in the school.
Dr. Benard Wesonga, the County Health Executive said that Kenya Medical Research Institute- KEMRI failed to detect any pathogen in the samples collected. In a statement, Wesonga said,
“Samples were collected from students who were admitted in the four hospitals within the county and taken to government laboratories where we conducted both culture and sensitive tests. However results have shown that learners were not suffering from any illness. This indicates a psychological challenge that could have been driven by panic”
Dr Wesonga said that the remedy to address this is through guidance and counselling after Education officials closed down the school due to pressure from the parents. Learners are expected to report back to school next week.
46 students have been discharged from hospital and after consultation with various stakeholders in the region, the school expects to receive Form Ones on Monday, Form Fours on Tuesday, Form Twos on Wednesday and lastly Form Threes on Thursday. This will provide a systematic entry back to the school.
Parents, guardians and shareholders of the school have been urged to stay calm as the school organises for guidance and counselling for the students to ensure nothing of the sort ever happens in the school
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