An initial report from the Sa Dec Ward People's Committee indicates that students were hospitalized on 19/5 and 20/5. Among them, two severe cases exhibited seizures. All hospitalized students had consumed a semi-boarding meal on 18/5. The menu included white rice, pork shumai, sweet mustard green soup with shrimp, water spinach, 'chuoi cau' bananas, and cream puffs for the afternoon snack. The initial diagnosis points to suspected food poisoning.

Kim Dong Primary School had 505 students partake in semi-boarding meals on 18/5 and 468 students on 19/5.

According to Ms. Le Thi Tuyet Nhung, Vice Chairwoman of the Sa Dec Ward People's Committee, the two students who showed severe symptoms are now in stable condition. The ward has instructed the school to temporarily suspend its semi-boarding activities. Additionally, an inter-agency inspection team, in coordination with health officials, has been established to collect food and patient samples for investigation into the cause.

The school contracts with an external unit to provide the meals. This unit exclusively supplies Kim Dong School, Ms. Nhung stated.

Recently, several incidents of student food poisoning after semi-boarding meals have occurred nationwide. In TP HCM, at one point, 5,000 students had to stop participating in semi-boarding due to food poisoning concerns. The primary causes of such poisoning are often bacterial contamination, including Salmonella and E.coli.

Ngoc Tai