31 Kapiri pupils quarantined

By ALEX NJOVU

THIRTY-ONE pupils at Mpunde Girls Secondary School in Kapiri Mposhi have been quarantined after being suspected of suffering from swine flu.
A further 35 pupils at the same school are also receiving treatment for diarrhoea after drinking water suspected to be contaminated.
Both Central Province provincial health director Dickson Suya and provincial permanent secretary Denny Lumbama confirmed the development in separate interviews from Kabwe yesterday.
Dr Suya said his office received a report of a suspected outbreak of swine flu on Saturday.
He, however, said all the quarantined pupils were in a stable condition and they are all receiving antibiotics.
Dr Suya said it was initially suspected that the pupils were suffering from swine flu but after a team of medical officers carried out medical examinations, it was found that 31 pupils had symptoms of flu and the other 35 pupils had diarrhoea and were also vomiting.
“We have 75 pupils quarantined at Mpunde (Girls Secondary School) for various illnesses. Thirty-one of them have flu-like symptoms and 35 have diarrhoea and are also vomiting,” he said.
Dr Suya said the school authorities have been advised to chlorinate the water so that it is safe for pupils to drink.
And Mr Lumbama also confirmed that some pupils at Mpunde Girls High School are under observation after some showed signs of flu while others experienced diarrhoea.
Mr Lumbama said his office received the report of suspected outbreak of swine flu at the school yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Health Workers Union of Zambia (HWUZ) officials have called on the government to seriously consider closing all schools in view of the increasing cases of H1N1 flu countrywide.
Luanshya Mine Trust School has been closed after eight pupils were suspected to have contracted the H1N1 flu.
ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba said in an interview from Kabwe yesterday that there was need for the government to temporarily close all schools countrywide in an effort to prevent the spread of the swine flu.
And HWUZ general secretary Lewis Mukosha called on the government to shut down all schools in the country and quarantine all the affected pupils to avoid the spread of the disease.
Samples of the suspected H1N1 flu that has affected more than 180 pupils at Luanshya Trust and Ndola Girls National Technical High Schools have been sent to Lusaka for tests.