Eleven children from the Three Mile Secondary School dormitory were yesterday morning rushed to the Bartica hospital suffering from bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea believed to be as a result of contaminated water and while ten were treated and sent away one was admitted because of dehydration.
Regional Chairman of Region Seven, Holbert Knights yesterday confirmed the illness but said it was “nothing to worry about” as was advised by the doctor of the hospital.
According to Knights the children became ill sometime on Thursday night and they were taken to the hospital early yesterday morning from the school’s location, three miles from Bartica. He said after treating them the doctor advised that the water supply to the dormitory be checked.
The sanitary officer in the region was dispatched to the area and instructed to carry out an investigation of the school’s environs and also to take samples of the supply of drinking water. Knights explained that the water is supplied by tanks which are filled either by the Guyana Water Inc or rain. He said the region had been experiencing extreme dry weather but on Thursday there was a heavy shower and it is believed that particles from the roof top of the dormitory may have washed into the tank and contaminated the water.
“Whatever it is we are investigating it, but it is nothing to worry about and we are monitoring the situation,” Knights told Stabroek News.
He said the one child who was admitted was extremely dehydrated.
