Suspected food poisoning cases at Ho Chi Minh City elementary school rise to 148

Of these, 102 cases are being treated as outpatients, while 46 ill students have been hospitalized.

All patients are currently in stable condition, and no severe cases have been reported.

A rapid report from Gia Dinh People’s Hospital confirmed that Salmonella was detected in stool samples collected from several students.

The affected students are being treated at Gia Dinh People’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital 2, Binh Thanh General Hospital, and the Binh Quoi Ward Healthcare Center.

Initial testing showed that seven out of 10 samples returned positive results for Salmonella.

Salmonella, a foodborne pathogen, is commonly transmitted through contaminated food such as eggs, milk, meat and raw vegetables, and can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain.

Professional units, including the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, are continuing to coordinate with the hospitals to collect additional samples and conduct bacterial typing to accurately identify the causative agent and the source of transmission.

On Thursday afternoon, the municipal department said that 53 cases of gastrointestinal illness had been recorded among students at Binh Quoi Tay Elementary School in Binh Quoi Ward over Wednesday and Thursday, possibly linked to food poisoning.

School principal Diep Thi Ngoc Tien clarified that the symptoms began on Wednesday morning, shortly after classes started, and not after school meals as social media reports suggested.

According to the principal, the students began exhibiting signs of fatigue, fever, and vomiting between 7:35 and 7:40 am, before consuming any food at school.

The symptoms were observed across multiple classes in grades one through three and increased in number following the morning break.