West Bengal: School students fall sick after taking deworming medicine

According to reports, just a day prior to the National Deworming Day (NDD), the West Bengal government held an event on Wednesday in 11 districts of the state, to provide deworming medicines to school children.

After taking a tablet namely 'Albendazole' (it is a medication used for the treatment of a variety of parasitic worm infestations), over 200 kids of four districts, including East Mindnapore, North and South 24 Parganas and Hooghly, fell sick and are being treated in several state-owned hospitals.

Guardians of the students alleged that the government had provided outdated medicines to their children. They also vandalized few schools. A heavy police force brought the situation under control.

However, denying the allegation, state Health Services director Biswaranjan Satpathy told IBNS, "The medicines were given to a large number of school students in 11 districts of Bengal. Few children of three or four districts are suffering from vertigo and vomiting and feeling pain in abdomen. The Albendazole tablets, which were distributed today, were made in September 2015 and will expire in September 2018."

"All sick students are getting well slowly and there is nothing to worry. Right now we are not ordering any probe into the matter," Satpathy added.

Meanwhile, CPI-M candidate of Ramnagar constituency in East Midnapore district for assembly polls- Tapas Sinha- was allegedly beaten by sick students' parents, when he went to visit them at Digha State General Hospital.

Amit Basu, an medication expert, told IBNS about the side affects of deworming tablets.

"Albendazole, which is a broad spectrum anthelmintic, could cause several side effects, including vomiting, nausea, stomach and abdomen pain, vertigo, headache and dizziness, if it's taken in empty stomach," Basu said.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)