After consuming iron tablets, 879 students fall sick

CHANDIGARH: Nearly 880 students, 150 of them girls, suffered from nausea and complained of stomach ache after consuming iron tablets in government schools in several districts of Haryana, officials said today.

The folic acid (iron) tablets were given to them as part of Haryana Health Department's supplementation programme to combat anaemia, they said.

There was no major cause for worry as the students had minor side effects after consuming the tablets, the officials said.

The students included 150 girls from Jind, they said. Most of the children, who belonged to various districts including Hissar, Jind, Sonipat, Gurgaon and Faridabad, were discharged after treatment, the officials said.

Out of 16 lakh students who were administered the iron tablets since yesterday, a total of 879 were found suffering from side effects such as stomach ache and nausea, a spokesman of the National Rural Health Mission (Haryana) said.

Majority of the children did not show the general side effects like vomiting, he said.

No student was admitted to any hospital, the spokesman said adding the children were immediately rushed to nearby health facilities and given first aid.

The weekly iron folic acid supplementation programme was started yesterday by the National Rural Health Mission in the state.