About 400 students of various schools of Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal fell ill on Thursday after being administered medicine in view of the National Deworming Day.
District chief medical officer (health) Prakash Mridha said reports of school children falling ill had come in from Moynaguri, Dhupguri, Moamari, Jalpaiguri and other places. About 300 children were admitted to different hospitals in the district and state tourism minister Goutam Deb and Mridha himself visited the children.
All of them complained of uneasiness, sweating, stomach ache and vomiting. Many of them rushed back home and were taken to hospitals by their family members, while many were shifted by teachers. However, the condition of none of them is serious, sources in the hospitals said.
Mridha said the deworming medicine was instructed to be given to the children after their midday meal in school. An investigation has been launched to determine what went wrong.