Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has instructed that students from Eregi Girls High School who want to receive treatment at home due to the outbreak of an unidentified illness should be permitted to depart with their parents.
As of Wednesday, 95 students from the school had been admitted to hospitals and are currently awaiting the results of laboratory tests. Even though health authorities suspect that the condition causing the girls’ inability to study is linked to elevated electrolyte levels, indicating fluid loss from their bodies, additional samples have been sent to Kisumu and Nairobi for further examination.
CS Machogu also confirmed that measures have been put in place to address the illness, noting that the Kenya Medical and Research Institute (KEMRI) has dispatched a team to investigate its origin.
Health officials in the Western region have likewise assured that they are implementing all necessary precautions to control the disease’s spread.
However, Kakamega County Director of Medical Services Steven Wandei urged both parents and the school to exercise prudence before allowing more students to leave.
“We must determine the nature of our girls’ ailment and ascertain its cause before allowing the remaining students to return home and interact with their siblings. Allowing students to go home while the disease is contagious could have catastrophic consequences,” Wandei stated, as quoted by the Nation.