50 people hospitalized due to poisoning at Lara school

More than 50 people were treated on Monday morning at the Dr. José María Bengoa Hospital in Sanare, Lara state, due to poisoning.. Those affected are students, teachers and administrative staff of the Volcancito Bolivarian School, in the Andrés Eloy Blanco municipality.

The incident began around 9:00 am and mainly affected children between 6 and 12 years old, students in first and sixth grade.

Students, teachers and administrative staff presented symptoms of generalized itching, difficulty breathing and hypothermia. When it was almost noon, the hospital had already collapsed, he said. The Pitazo.

Some medical and nursing staff were also poisoned by contact with patients.

The medical personnel presume that the emergency was caused by chemical agents, possibly derived from fumigation in the crops surrounding the school. However, this hypothesis cannot be confirmed until toxicological tests are performed.

Doctors and nurses were poisoned by contact with patients | PHOTO: La Prensa

This is not the first time something similar has happened at school. Hospital sources told The Pitazo that for eight days they have treated, daily, between three and five children from that educational center with symptoms of poisoning. These cases had already been notified and reported to the hospital authorities, but no action was taken until Monday, November 25, when the mass poisoning occurred.

No minors or school personnel have been transferred to the Antonio María Pineda Central Hospital, despite the fact that the Sanare care center lacked the basic supplies to deal with the emergency.

“There was nothing,” sources said.

The media pointed out that the town’s pharmacies and the Blessing of God clinic collaborated with injectors, masks, saline solution, hydrocortisone and dexamethasone. In addition, the Mayor’s Office of the Andrés Eloy Blanco municipality provided activated charcoal to mitigate the effects of poisoning.

“The staff of the prefecture, which is next to the school, were also affected,” the source added.

By 2:00 pm, most of the children had already been discharged and others remained under observation. Although the poisoning was considered mild, the hospital treated more than 50 people, including adults and children, exceeding its usual capacity, staff confirmed.

The report from the Lara state Integrated Ambulance Command and Control Center only counted 37 affected people, 27 children and 10 adults.

This case represents the first mass poisoning recorded in the state of Lara since the wave of similar incidents that have been reported in Venezuela since October 29.

They investigate case of mass poisoning at Lara school

Luis Mujica, Director of Civil Protectionreported that toxicology specialists are investigating the case of mass poisoning at the Volcancito school, in Lara, according to the newspaper The Press.

«This situation, apparently, was caused by an agrotoxic, but the cause of the contaminating element has not yet been determined; However, the toxicology teams of the Ministry of Health are working tirelessly to detect the cause and origin,” Mujica reported.

Although he did not specify the number of those affected, he said that the entire medical and ambulance team in the state of Lara remains on alert, particularly at the Dr. José María Bengoa Hospital in Sanare, where immediate attention is provided to those affected.

“We remain alert to identify the cause and the person responsible for the situation, remember the emergency numbers 02512544889 and 02512543965, in addition to Ven911 for any news,” he said.

According to information from The Pitazo23 events due to mass poisoning have been recorded in Venezuela since October. The cases of poisoning exceed 800.

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