3 children aged 1½ to 6 hospitalised after Newton pre-school salmonella & stomach flu outbreak

Parents unhappy.

Belmont Lay | December 09, 2020, 12:06 PM

Three children aged between 18 months and six years old have been hospitalised due to an outbreak of salmonella and stomach flu at Kiddiwinkie Schoolhouse @ Newton, a pre-school in the central part of Singapore.

One of the children has been discharged on Dec. 8, according to the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) in a statement later that day.

ECDA said it is working with the Health Ministry on the case.

The cause of the outbreak is still not known.

22 cases in total so far

As of Dec. 8, there were four cases of salmonella and 18 cases of stomach flu, The Straits Times reported, citing a circular to parents it has seen.

The pre-school said ECDA was alerted and also assured parents that the centre will be disinfected daily.

Parents felt school did not act with enough urgency

ST reported that a parent of two children who came down with food poisoning said she knows of at least 16 cases of food poisoning or stomach flu in the preschool, including her children.

Parents that ST spoke to said they felt that the school did not act with urgency in informing parents about the various cases.

One parent's three-year-old boy who had fallen sick on Dec. 5 even claimed the school discouraged him from discussing the situation with other parents, as the school did not want to cause the other parents alarm.

A centre manager at the school declined to comment when approached by ST.

Background

Salmonella infections can be fatal for those who are young and old, or with impaired immune systems.

Eating food contaminated with the bacteria Salmonella Enteritidis leads to food poisoning.

Symptoms include diarrhoea, fever, vomiting and abdominal cramps.

Stomach flu is caused by the norovirus which inflames the stomach and intestines.

Symptoms include diarrhoea or vomiting.

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