Mukumu Girls: Post-mortem reveals third student died of bacterial infection

Kakamega General Hospital

The main entrance to the Kakamega County General, Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

A post-mortem has found that the third student of Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls High School who died at Kakamega General Hospital suffered from multiple organ failure due to a bacterial infection. 

This was revealed Thursday by Western region chief pathologist Dickson Mchana, who said the samples from her kidneys, liver, lungs and brain have been taken for further analysis.

The results from these samples will be out in a week.

The death toll from the killer bacterial illness at the school hit three on Tuesday this week. The deaths are suspected to be linked to food and water poisoning at the school located in Kakamega County. However, a parent whose daughter is a student at the institution had shared with Nation her laboratory results showing that her stool sample tested positive for cholera. The student was treated at Kisumu Specialist Hospital while the tests were conducted at Path Care Kenya.

The post-mortem on Wendy Abetti Oyugi, 14, a Form One student at the school, had revealed that she died of gastritis (stomach inflammation). The exercise conducted on April 3 at Umash Funeral Home in Nakuru by government pathologist Dr Titus Ngulungu revealed the minor who died at the institution experienced bleeding in the stomach as a result of the inflammation. He noted that she must have ingested something that caused the inflammation and the bleeding.

When the disease outbreak at the school started, at least 246 students were hospitalised with vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness.

Previously, Kakamega County Health executive Bernard Wesonga had indicated that four girls remain hospitalised in the devolved unit.