By Brima Sannoh
Residents in Sierra Leone’s eastern Kenema district are still in shock, two days after the tragic ending of what was meant to be a party and merrymaking event.
Over a hundred people, mostly children, had gathered at the home of the Kallon family on the night of Tuesday, July 26, along Momoh Tollie Street in the Nyandeyama Section, to party with their colleague who was celebrating her graduation from nursery school.
In the morning of Wednesday, 27th July, residents woke up to the shocking news that dozens of the party goers had been rushed to the regional government hospital for suspected food poisoning.
Scores of people from all over the city rushed to the hospital to find out the status of their loved ones.
Data released by the District Health Management Team (DHMT) indicate that approximately 150 people had attended the party.
Eighty-four of these were hospitalized, according to a situation report from the Kenema Government Hospital. The victims, it notes, were brought in with complaints that included generalized weakness, abdominal pain, headache, itching and vomiting. Others were received in unconscious state, with some showing signs of hallucination and drowsiness.
Dr. Ibrahim Mark Kapuwa, the district Medical Superintendent, told journalists late Wednesday that 60 percent of the victims were women and that 70 percent of all of them were children within the age of five and 18.
The district medical authorities said ongoing community visits identified one new case, a female student who didn’t seek healthcare. That brought the total suspected cases to 84 [26 male and 58 female].
The newly discovered victim is however said to be so stable that she was able to sit to the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination.
The hospital’s situation report issued on Thursday also indicates that 15 other people were identified in the community to have also ate the food supplied at the party but they didn’t come down with any signs or symptoms of infection.
The document shows that 32 people have been discharged as of Thursday, including 27 children.
The hospital authorities say 12 of the hospitalized – 11 adults and one child – were still with “altered consciousness”, a change in one’s normal mental state as a result of trauma. The lone child in this category is the birthday celebrant.
According to Dr Kapuwa, blood samples and other specimen were immediately taken from the patents for testing in Freetown, in order to establish the cause of their predicament. He added that they also moved to swiftly deploy a surveillance team in the community for line listing and contact tracing, noting that they believed that more people might have consumed whatever was responsible for the condition of the hospitalized victims.
As at Friday after, the test results were still not available.
But Dr Kapuwa said every indication point to food poisoning. He also said that over 90 percent of the patients have “good chances” of surviving.
News about the incident swept through social media early Wednesday morning. There were accounts of several dead among the victims.
But Dr Kapuwa dismissed those claims, noting that only one person died, an incident that happened outside the hospital, he said.
The dead victim is a one-year-two-month-old girl.
There has been no fatality among those who were admitted in the hospital, stressed the Medical Superintendent.
“Those spreading such rumors are just doing it to create panic among the people and it is not good. The public and the media should rely on the medical authorities for facts of this incident, which is what we are giving you,” he added.
Speaking on interventions made so far by the government, the district health authorities said the Ministry of Health had ordered for supplies of essential medical items to attend to the victims, noting that more assistance was needed from partners and any other person to put the situation under control.
Deputy Minister of Health Dr Princess Dugba was in Kenema when the incident occurred. She was briefed by the district medical officials in the government hospital.
Dr Dugba said the MoHS was impressed with the level of coordination and response by the DHMT. She praised the efforts of the entire medical staff of the Kenema Government Hospital and assured them that the ministry would try as much as it could to provide them with all the required supplies.
“What we heard and saw on social media was scary, but the reality, based on what we are seeing with our own eyes, they are two different situations,” Dr. Dugba said.
Meanwhile, as health officials race to save the lives of the remaining hospitalized victims, their families wait in anxiety. Some were in tears as they narrated their ordeal to the authorities.
For Malik Sheriff, father of four child victims, Wednesday was “a sad day”. He is the father of the only dead victim.
Mr Sheriff, while recalling the disturbing image of his daughter laying down, lifeless, said he was worried about the fate of his other three kids and their mother. All of them were among those hospitalized.
Sheriff is also looking forward for the authorities to take action against whoever is behind the incident.
Another concerned parent, Karamoh Kenda, has all three of his daughters admitted. The kids who live in Freetown, where they attend school, were in Kenema for the summer holiday.
The distraught father said it was “unimaginable” for any person to prepare food with the intention of poisoning innocent children.
“I am not sure what exactly happened. It might be an accident, or someone [may have] planned for this to happen. We rely on the authorities to tell us,” he lamented.
According to sources, the mother of the celebrant, had prepared the food. Both the mother and father are among the victims hospitalized.
The entire Nyandeyama New Site community is characterized by complete quietness, as the incident affected many of the households there.
The Sierra Leone Police said in a statement it was working with the medical authorities to ascertain the exact cause of the incident, which will determine its next move.
