At least two of the 25 students of Ogba Junior Grammar School hospitalised last Thursday for inhaling poisonous fumes from a photo laboratory close to their school are said to be battling for life at the emergency ward of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja.
According to reliable hospital sources, the students — Gbolahan Lawal and another, a female — are however said to be under close watch by doctors who believe they have good chances of recovering.
Gbolahan’s mother, Mrs. Isiwatu Lawal, who spoke to Vanguard said: “It was one of his friends who told me what happened in their school while I was waiting for him to return. This is because he wasn’t sick before leaving home.
“When I inquired from his friends, they said the chemical released by a photo laboratory behind their school affected all the pupils including him. While some of the pupils affected were rolling, clutching their stomach and screaming, he didn’t.
“So on his way home, he slumped on Ogba Road. It was bystanders who came to his rescue. They took him to a hospital where first aid was administered on him, before he was transferred to LASUTH, Ikeja.”
She noted that her son complained of chest pain earlier and began vomiting the following day. “At present, he is about receiving another drip. But the doctors have assured us that he will be stable in few hours.
She stated that Gbolahan was the only male among the five students critically affected by the chemical, adding, “he is the only one in his ward. I don’t know where others are.”
Meantime, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris has said that there have not been any new cases of confirmed cholera in the state aside the three earlier confirmed cases reported since the detection of the epidemic prone disease.
Idris who disclosed this, weekend, while speaking on efforts to curb the spread of the disease, noted that not all diarrheoa cases were cholera, stressing that various organs of government had been working assiduously since the detection of the disease in some parts of the state to contain the spread.
According to him: “Following the notice alerting the public to the cases of cholera in some parts of the state, various organs of the government like the Ministry of Health, Information and Strategy, Environment, Water Corporation, Waste Water Management Office, Rural Development and Water Regulatory Agency have risen to the occasion, and have been working tirelessly to contain the spread. Since that time, we have not recorded any new cases of confirmed cholera.”
