Boy dies from school food poisoning in Khanh Hoa

According to the local Department of Health, the six-year-old boy, whose father is a foreign national, was brought to 22/12 Hospital in Khanh Hoa by his family past midnight on Friday.

The following day he experienced convulsions and went into cardiac arrest and was transferred to Khanh Hoa General Hospital.

He was diagnosed with septic shock and food poisoning, and doctors decided to transfer him to HCMC Children’s Hospital No.2, but tragically he died before he could be admitted there.

This is the first death caused by the mass food poisoning during lunch on November 17.

The department said 600 children were taken to hospital, and 360 were admitted while the rest were sent home.

As of Sunday afternoon 266 were still under treatment, with 21 in critical condition.

Pham Huu Binh, principal of Ischool in Khanh Hoa’s Nha Trang town, met the children’s parents on Sunday and admitted responsibility.

“I apologize for any omissions, for not fulfilling my role as a principal.”

The school would remain closed for a week and review food safety and investigate the cause of poisoning, he said.

Pham Huu Binh, principal of Ischool, at a meeting with parents on November 20 after 600 students suffered food poisoning and a six-year-old boy died. Photo by VnExpress/Bui Toan

Tran Van Hien, father of a ninth grader, said his child was admitted to the hospital with vomiting, and though his general condition has improved he still has diarrhea.

Doctors have found the toxic concentration to be high, but said there is no treatment for it, he said.

“If things take a turn for the worse, I will take my child to HCMC for treatment tomorrow,” he said.

Other parents were impatient with the authorities for failing to identify the source of the poisoning even after four days, and urged them to quickly get top doctors to treat the children.

The Khanh Hoa Province People’s Committee has instructed Nha Trang authorities to visit the deceased child’s family and provide financial support of VND21 million.

The department and the Department of Food Safety have inspected the kitchen at Ischool, but detected no violations and said food hygiene and safety regulations had been followed.

Inspectors however took samples and sealed all the food left after serving students lunch and brunch on the day the poisoning occurred.

They have sent the samples to the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang for testing to identify the cause of poisoning.

The results are expected by November 23.

The Nha Trang Health Center has sanitized the school, especially the kitchen, using Chloramine B solution.

A student who suffered food poisoning at Ischool in a hospital ER on November 17. Photo by VnExpress/Tran Huu

The school has more than 900 day students.

After lunch on November 17 a large number of children suffered from abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, and were taken to hospitals for emergency treatment.

The meals at the school are provided by a business household in Xuong Huan ward, Nha Trang.

The Ministry of Health has instructed the Khanh Hoa Department of Health to shut the school kitchen until the tests determine the cause of the poisoning.