About 54 students of Khliehriat Higher Secondary School fall ill after taking iron folic acid (IFA) tablets under the central government’s anaemia prevention programme.
Eight of these children are said to be critical and were admitted to the Khliehriat CHC today morning following complaints of abdominal pain, headache and vomiting while the rest were out of danger after undergoing treatment.
Sub Divisional Medical Health Officer, Dr W. Bamon said the tablets are administered to help counter iron deficiency and anaemia among students between the age groups of 10 and 19 years.
“Altogether 54 students from the school had symptoms like weakness, dizziness, nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting. While 46 of them were given oral treatment at the CHC, eight have to be admitted,” Dr Bamon said.
He informed that the folic acid tablets are distributed to schools in the district since 2012. The 54 children had earlier consumed the tablet and had developed no symptoms then, he added.
Principal of the school, Br. Solomon Swer said that the 54 students had felt uneasiness after taking the supplements and he had asked the teachers to stop giving them to the rest of the students.
Swer said while the shelf life of the medicine is up to date, he was apprehensive to stock them in the school. “We do not have proper storage for the medicines and in future we will not accept stock of the supplements,” he said.
The principal further said students were supposed to consume these tablets only after a proper meal, which according to him, the students might not be aware of.
It may be mentioned that this is not the first time that students in the State had fallen ill after consuming the supplements. In July this year, 21 students of Kyntiew Shaphrang Higher Secondary School in Laitlyngkot under East Khasi Hills district developed these symptoms and were hospitalised.