Since my last memo issued on 15 January 2016, many of our affected students and staff have reported progress in their recovery. Most of our students and staff that were hospitalised have since been discharged and are resting at home. Many who sought outpatient treatment have also informed us that they have recovered. Our management has decided to close the school for another two days on 18 & 19 January 2016 to allow our students and teachers more time to rest and recover fully before resuming lessons.
Based on medical results reported from some of the affected students and staff, Salmonella D bacteria is identified as one of the cause of the illness. Our management will have a meeting with Professor Yong Poovorawan, medical professor in pediatric hepatology from the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University from 11am to 12pm on Tuesday, 19 January 2016 at SISB Pracha Uthit. Parents who are interested to join us in our meeting session with Professor Yong, kindly contact our Admissions office to inform us and we will keep you updated should there be any changes in the meeting time.
Through our interviews with more than 500 students, staff and parents, we conclude that all students and staff members who were down with food poisoning had consumed the éclairs.
Based on the initial test results we have received from the National Institute of Health of Thailand, Salmonella bacteria have been traced in the éclair food sample. This is a brief overview of the results and we are awaiting the complete test report with further details of the analysis within the next two weeks.
The éclair food items were supplied by one of our school’s new supplier, La Pomme. New suppliers were introduced this term as part of the school’s initiative to introduce a wider variety of snacks for students. The officials from the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) have since visited and inspected the supplier’s facility and ordered immediate closure of operations of La Pomme.
We are taking all possible measures to ensure a thorough cleaning and disinfecting process of the whole school, including the kitchen and all the water filters, in adherence to the guidelines by MOPH. All existing fresh food items in the refrigerators/kitchen have been disposed of as a precautionary measure. MOPH has inspected our school on 13 January 2016 to conduct culture test on all our kitchen staff, and have conducted a follow-up inspection of our facility on 18 January 2016.