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Carlton Frank, Environmental Health Investigation Officer. |
(Basseterre; St. Kitts) Investigations are ongoing into the Environmental Heath/Clinical matter that has left several with food poisoning.
Several persons between the ages of 2 and 16 were admitted to the Joseph N France General Hospital last Friday May 26 2006 with the symptoms of food poisoning.
Five children were treated and discharged the following morning.
"We are at the stage of finding out how the food got contaminated," said Carlton Frank, Environmental Health Investigation Officer.
Frank spoke at a press conference at the JNF Administration Building Conference Room which was chaired by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Patrick Martin. Martin said that the children came to the JNF with extreme weakness and vomiting.
Medical Officer in Accident and Emergency Dr. Dwayne Friday of Guyana was on scene when he realized the
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Left is Dr. Dwayne Friday of Guyana and right is Dr Lopez |
weakness and vomiting of some of the children at the Basseterre High School.
The children had all gone to a Drama Festival held at the school along with other children from around the island and had eaten chicken from the same caterer.
Those that were infected from the chicken that was eaten had symptoms of their eye pupil becoming small and excess salivation from their mouths. They also became weak along with vomiting.
A two-year-old child who was most at risk was left at the hospital for further treatment after others had return to their homes. The two-year-old was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit on Sunday for further treatment after losing excess secretion in his lungs.
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Dr Ian Jacobs a Pediatrician |
Dr Ian Jacobs a Pediatrician gave a clinical overview of the cases, he said the poisoning was caused by an agent call organophosphate in pesticide and if not treated properly and quickly can lead to death of children and adults.
The children were treated with a drug called Atropine which was the method taken to absorb the poison in their bodies.
Dr. Martin said it was the first time such incident of organophosphate poisoning has taken place in the Federation.
This type of food poisoning is often associated with the reheating of meat and meat products. Since the organism is only able to multiply in the absence of air, it thrives at the bottom of a stock pot or in the centre of a meat pie or rolled joint.
~~Adz:Right~~Most outbreaks normally involve a large number of people because it is more commonly found in foods that have been prepared in bulk.
Frank gave methods and warnings to prevent food poisoning from occurring. He also reminded the general public and others who handle food that food handling sessions occur twice per month. The classes are on the second and fourth of each month.
Hygienic preparation and thorough cooking of food will prevent it from becoming contaminated with the bacterium. However, if contamination has taken place and the bacteria have produced toxins, these toxins will not be destroyed by reheating. For this reason prevention is important.
