100 students in Odisha hospital after taking deworming pills
About a hundred primary school students in Odisha were hospitalised Wednesday after they were given deworming tablets as part of National Deworming Day.
The students were given Mebendazole, a chewable pill which flushes worms out of the body. Deputy director of health department, Dr Biswaranjan Padhi, said the children could be suffering from side effects of the drug. “We will not give them the second dose,” he said.
In Jhepapalli upper primary School in Sonepur district, seven students fell sick after taking the dose. Over 40 students of Brahmanibila UP school of Angul district were hospitalised. In Bandhahuda school of Cuttack’s Narasinghpur area, more than 30 students complained of nausea and dizziness.
In two schools of Budhapada and Khudupur area of Khurda district, 15 students were hospitalised after they took the pill.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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