Kids leave hospitals after poisoning case
SAN CARLOS CITY—Classes at the Guelew Integrated School in Barangay Guelew here resumed on Friday, although many students downed by bad chewing gum a day earlier were absent, according to a school official.
Except for one student, all 62 students admitted at the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital (PPH) had been discharged, said Augusto Cayabyab, school principal.
“Many are absent today. Maybe they are still resting. Besides, it’s already Friday so they may have decided to just come to school on Monday (July 6) instead,” said Cayabyab.
Dr. Edwin Guinto, city health officer, said 117 pupils were taken to hospitals here on Thursday for suspected food poisoning after they took fruit-flavored chewing gum.
Aside from the 62 pupils, 49 others were treated at the PPH’s outpatient department and six more were treated at private hospitals here.
Guinto said the remaining pupil now under PPH care was a Grade 4 pupil, who was discharged on Thursday night but was readmitted at the hospital on Friday when he complained of dizziness.
“We advised them to come back if they still feel something [bad],” said Dr. Policarpio Manuel, PPH director.
Cheap gums
Cayabyab said the victims bought the gum from two stores in front of the school.
“As a policy, we close our school gates after the flag ceremony and no one is allowed to go out. We have a guard,” said Cayabyab, indicating that the children bought the items before classes began.
In an earlier report, the INQUIRER quoted Christopher Macasias, a teacher, as saying after attending the school’s flag ceremony, the students went to class holding similar boxes of chewing gum in different flavors.
“When they started vomiting and complaining of abdominal pain, the teachers called for jeepneys to take them to the PPH,” said the teacher.
“We looked at the candies and these were discolored, stinking and tasted bitter. When we looked at the boxes, the expiration dates were scratched out,” Macasias said.
The children bought the boxes of chewing gums for P2 each, “which was surprising because I know that [this brand of candy] costs around P30 each box,” he said.
“The students may have been attracted by the colorful packaging [of the gum] and its low price,” Macasias said.
Supt. Ferdinand De Asis, provincial police spokesperson, said 65 children were put under observation at the PPH while 45 others were admitted for treatment. Three others were confined at Virgen Milagrosa Medical Center here.
Krisel Rosario, a Grade 4 pupil, said a classmate prodded her to buy the chewing gum because it was delicious.