All 154 Katsina Students Released from Hospital After Treatment Scare

All 154 students who fell ill after taking medication at Government Science Secondary School (Boarding), Batagarawa, Katsina State, have been released from the hospital, police confirmed.

No deaths occurred, but the cause of the incident is still not clear.

The students showed symptoms after taking praziquantel tablets during a bilharzia treatment event on Monday, 26 October.

In a statement on Wednesday, 28 October, Katsina State Police Command spokesperson, Abubakar Aliyu, said the last 25 students receiving medical care had also recovered and were discharged.

“For the avoidance of doubt, all one hundred and fifty-four (154) students who showed symptoms of adverse drug reaction after taking Praziquantel tablets and were taken to hospitals have now been fully discharged,” Mr Aliyu said.

The Commissioner of Police, Ali Fage, thanked the community for their cooperation and urged them to ignore unverified reports about what happened.

This announcement followed an earlier statement from the state government that it had set up a committee to look into the incident.

The medication exercise was done by primary healthcare officials with help from Batagarawa Local Government Area.

According to The Sun, over 700 students got the medication in two groups.

The first group received their treatment on 24 October without any problems. But during the second group on 26 October, students complained of symptoms like vomiting, stomach pain, and dizziness.

Some students were taken to Ahmadi Rimi Specialist Hospital and Turai Yar’Adua Maternal and Child Hospital in Katsina.

In an earlier report, Channels Television spoke to the Medical Director of Ahmadi Rimi Specialist Hospital, Auwal Sani, who said some students arrived unconscious but responded well to treatment.

Mr Sani explained that the students' heights were measured to decide how many tablets they would get. This method is often used in mass praziquantel treatment to avoid weighing each student.

Two affected students, Abubakar Muhammad and Hassan Muhammad, told Channels Television that the number of tablets they received was different; some got one, two, or three tablets.

Initially, reports said 64 students were in the hospital. Later police updates revealed that a total of 154 students received medical attention.

The statements available do not clarify why there was a difference between the early count and the final total.

The Katsina State Commissioner for Health, Musa Adamu Funtua, said early investigations indicated that when students ate before taking the medication might have caused the reactions.

Speaking to Channels Television on 28 October, Mr Funtua added that there might have been a delay between breakfast and when the tablets were given.

He also mentioned that the state government had set up a committee to investigate the issue.

The commissioner’s explanation is still a possibility and not a confirmed reason.

As of Friday, 30 October, no public findings from the committee had been shared.

Praziquantel is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for treating schistosomiasis, commonly known as bilharzia. This disease is spread through contact with dirty freshwater.

The WHO suggests preventive treatment with praziquantel for at-risk populations, especially school-aged children in areas where the disease is common.

The medicine is widely used in mass treatment programs, but side effects like stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness can happen.

WHO treatment guidelines recommend giving praziquantel with food to help reduce side effects.

But the known side effects of the medicine do not explain the reactions reported in Batagarawa.

The government has not said whether its investigation found any differences in meal times, medication administration, or medical supervision between the two treatment events.