BLANTYRE—Twenty students from Chikhwawa Secondary School fainted Thursday evening after taking trachoma prevention drugs the ministry of health is distributing in the district.

Sources say students, all girls, didn’t follow the instructions and that they took the drugs on an empty stomach.

“This happened soon after they’d taken the drugs and the development raised fear among the students and teachers as they were taken unaware,” a person who didn’t want to be named said.

“They were rushed to the district’s hospital for treatment and it was established that the girls should have taken food first,” the person said.

“We expect business at the school to be normal and parents shouldn’t panic…all students have understood the cause,” the source said.

The ministry of health is administering the drugs in all schools in Chikhwawa to prevent blindness caused by trachoma which is common in the district and the Lower Shire.
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(c) The Maravi Post 2012. Reproduction without authorisation prohibited

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