FILE PHOTO: Doctors at Maridi Hospital attend to some of the Ibba schoolchildren who developed adverse side effects of Praziquantel | Credit | Courtesy

Over 90 percent of schoolchildren hospitalized at Maridi Hospital after developing adverse side effects from a deworming tablet have recovered, a health official has said.

Last week, 121 pupils in Ibba County in Western Equatoria State got ill after swallowing Praziquantel, which was provided by the ministry and the World Health Organization.

Local authorities say the campaign was organized by the government and partners to deworm children between the ages of 5 and 16 against bilharzia.

The pupils suffered severe side effects, especially at St. Peter, Ibba Girls Boarding, Hope and St. Luwang schools.

According to the head teacher of St. Peter Primary School in Ibba, the pupils developed headache, dizziness, stomach pain, nausea and fever.

“More than a hundred patients have recovered fully and they will be discharged,” Dr Vitoria Majur, undersecretary, told SSBC on Sunday.

Majur did not disclose the exact number of the students now in stable condition.

The Ministry of Health and WHO did not explain why the deworming tablet had the adverse side effect on the schoolchildren.