St. Peters Unity Secondary School

According to Daily Post, a student of St. Peters Unity Secondary School, Akure, SPUSSA, Ondo State has died due to the outbreak of a disease in the school suspected to be meningitis.

With the death of the JSS 1 student which occurred on Saturday, last week, two students who were in the same class with the deceased are currently battling with their lives at the State Specialist Hospital, Akure, the Ondo State capital.

It was gathered that the situation which is currently causing panic among students and teachers in the school which is being operated as a full boarding school by the Ondo State government is being suppressed by the school authority in order to avoid alerting and causing scare among parents.

A visit by Daily Post to the hospital on Thursday revealed that the two affected students who were rushed to the hospital on Saturday are currently being monitored and treated at an isolation section of the hospital’s children ward.

According to one of the medical personnel at the hospital who spoke on the condition of anonymity disclosed that different tests are already ongoing to ascertain the particular disease they are battling with as she emphasized that the symptoms shown so far are similar to that of meningitis.

She maintained that the bacterial, meningitis, is usually contracted through unhygienic conditions and poor sanitation which she said the school is suspected to be prone to particularly in the school’s dormitory and kitchen.

While narrating how the students were rushed to the hospital, the medical personnel stated that “a male and female students were brought here (hospital) on Saturday.

“So, the State hospital decided to take precautions and isolate them in the children ward while restricting every visitation.”

Expressing displeasure over the situation, one of the parents of one of the affected students said that since he got a call from the school on Saturday as regards his son’s illness, no one has been able to tell him the particular illness his son was suffering from.

“I received a call from the school on Saturday that my child, who newly got admitted into the school is not feeling okay and was rushed down to the State hospital, hence I should show up.

“When he was resuming into the school, I bought everything the school requested for, everything.”

Confirming the development, Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Wahab Adegbenro, stated that officials from the ministry have been to the school for necessary measures.

“The Ministry just got to know about it and we have taken measures to prevent and ensure it doesn’t spread to others.

“students who might have gotten close contact with these victims have been placed on drugs and also treated so as to avoid the spread of the disease.”