Hyderabad: In a shocking incident, 22 girls studying at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in Regode mandal of Medak district, along with three of their teachers, fell ill due to food poisoning on Friday morning, February 20.
They were all treated at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) located in Regode, after which some of the students requiring further treatment were admitted to Narayankhed Area Hospital.
There are 500 girls, mostly orphans, half-orphans, and those coming from the poorest of the poor families, studying in this KGBV. Right after the Friday morning breakfast, 22 girls and 3 teachers started developing symptoms like vomiting, stomach ache, and diarrhea.
Though it was not yet clear whether the breakfast was contaminated, reports claimed that the inmates of the school-cum-hostel were fed egg curry during lunch on Thursday, and the leftover gravy from the lunch was used to make ‘pulusu’ for dinner, which may have triggered the symptoms.
A health camp was set up at the school on Friday to treat any more potential food poisoning victims, and the officials were trying to find out the cause for food contamination. The worried parents were anguished about poor-quality food being served to the inmates at the school, causing similar incidents.
On January 29, a suspected case of food poisoning was reported at a government primary school in Venkatapur village of Sangareddy district, where 45 students had fallen ill after consuming their mid-day meals.
A total of 23 students were quickly shifted to the Narayankhed Government Area Hospital. The doctors who examined them had said that most of them were stable, but remained under observation.
Narayankhed Assembly MLA and Congress leader P Sanjeeva Reddy, a doctor by profession, had rushed to the hospital to examine the situation.
According to reports, at least 123 students have been taken ill due to food poisoning in Telangana in 2026 by mid February. With the Friday’s incident at Regode KGBV, the number has moved closer to 150.
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