Health officials rule out cholera outbreak at Upper Hill School, say its amoebiasis

Health officials have ruled out the possibility of a cholera outbreak at Upper Hill School and confirmed that close to 100 students who were complaining of stomach pains, diarrhoea and vomiting tested positive for Amoebiasis.

Dr Carol Ngunu, the director of Promotive and Preventive Health Services in Nairobi County addressed agitated parents who had stormed the school earlier on Tuesday after reports of suspected cholera cases.

She said tests had been conducted on 20 students who were admitted at Savannah Healthcare and South B Hospital and 60 students who had been checked at Mbagathi hospital and allowed to go back to school.

Dr Ngunu says 11 students are still admitted and were expected to be discharged later on Tuesday as they are in stable condition.

The health officials have collected samples of water and food from the school for more tests with the results expected by the end of this week.

“Our initial test and what we treated for has been amoebiasis and so we are investigating what could have been the original cause or source of that infection,” she said.

“We as the health department have also taken the samples to culture for cholera; we did rapid tests and they turned negative.”

The school administration has ruled out closure following the incident insisting that Ministry of Health officials were up to the task of attending to the affected students.

The Ministry of Education had on Monday raised alarm over a suspected cholera outbreak at Nairobi's Upper Hill School, which it said had hospitalized 16 students and treated and discharged 60 others.

The reports said that several students began vomiting and complaining of stomach upsets after eating rice, beans, and beef on Friday.

It spreads through drinking or eating uncooked food, such as fruit, that may have been washed in contaminated local water.