Birthday Party Food: Fourteen (14) Medical Students Hospitalised

Fourteen medical students of the University for Development Studies (UDS), were rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) on Wednesday night after consuming food and taking drinks suspected to have been contaminated. A source at the hospital told the Daily Graphic that the 14 students had attended a birthday party of a colleague at the Vittin Estates in Tamale that night and that while at the party, the students were served some drinks, savours and meat. �After consuming these food items they began to complain of abdominal pains and dizziness and were, therefore, rushed to the hospital,� the source said. The Northern Regional Crime Officer, Mr Mahama Arhin, confirmed the story and indicated that one person had been arrested in connection with the incident. �The person arrested is the one who prepared and supplied the pastries, but did not partake in the meal,� he said. During a visit to the wards, the Daily Graphic observed that five of the affected students had been transferred to the recovery ward (E.O 32), while the rest were still being treated at the emergency ward. Also in the wards were some family relations and friends who, upon hearing the news, had rushed to the hospital to verify the reports and condition of their loved ones. In an interview, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the TTH, Nii Otu Ankrah, said all the students were in a stable condition. �The doctors are attending to them and so there is no cause for alarm,� he said, adding that the incident had already been reported to the police. Nii Ankrah, however, declined to give further details. The affected students are in their sixth year in the medical school and were doing their clinical attachment at the TTH.