Sixteen students of Losel Gaytsho Academy, a private school in Gelegphu, are undergoing treatment for peripheral neuropathy after they complained of swollen leg and joint pains last week. A medical team from the Central Regional Referral Hospital (CRRH) is monitoring the students. According to the team, the medical condition is nothing to be alarmed about.
The sick students are treated within the campus as the school is operating as a self-contained facility due to the COVID-19 situation.
Going by the medical team’s findings, the health condition is due to Thiamine or Vitamin B1 deficiency. The team physically examined the students, conducted lab tests and analyzed their dietary habits.
The medical superintendent of the Central Regional Referral Hospital said the students suffered from lower limb swelling, tingling and numbness.
“This normally occurs in male at adolescent age group. It’s mainly because of high nutritional demand at this age group, which is not met through diet. Vitamin B complex groups are a water-soluble vitamin, which means there is no proper storage in our own body. We have to depend on consumption in the form of diet for regular supply in our bodies. If this content is missing in regular diet even for the duration of two to three weeks then it tends to show the symptom of a deficiency in the form of exactly what is shown today,” said Dorji Tshering, the Medical Superintendent with the CRRH in Gelegphu.
The school’s principal, Tshering Dema said the meals provided are in line with the School Feeding Program. Meat and eggs are included in the menu once a week along with an assortment of vegetables.
“We actually wanted to be proactive and wanted to see what the underlying issue is. It is really because of diet or is it really something else. If it is because of diet then what we need to incorporate more and then along with it we also need to encourage our children because what’s happening at the moment is, children do not want to take what we give them. So, probably with medical intervention, even if they don’t like it, I am sure they would have it,” she said.
For now, the sick students are in a stable condition with all of them attending regular classes.
Losel Gaytsho Academy is located five kilometres away from Gelegphu town along the Gelegphu-Zhemgang highway. It has around 700 students.
Karma Wangdi
