A mini-riot by Starehe girls forced a reluctant administration yesterday to give them a break to seek treatment for a strange illness that broke out in the school.
The girls released are from forms one to three. They are expected to report back on Monday to start their end of year examinations.
Form 4 students, however, remain in school, preparing for the national exams. The decision follows a prior intervention by the administration which saw around 52 students quarantined.
It is understood that the raucous cough and sneezing started two weeks ago and owing to its mysterious nature, teachers took time to monitor the development, which was only getting worse and affecting more students.
But the girls were increasingly getting impatient with the school administration, pressuring them to let the affected ones go to seek help.
Multiple interviews with students yesterday revealed that the girls had staged a mini-riot on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, forcing the administration to let them go.
"The teachers were just telling us that this is a normal flu and that those affected would get better. But our colleagues were suffering and we said no," said a Form 4 student.
"We had to do some sort of a mini-riot yesterday [Wednesday] and today [Thursday] to force them to allow the students go and seek medication," she added.
She said the school administration was giving the victims sleeping pills and Betapine, a pain reliever, as a way of managing the condition.
A Form 3 student claimed that at first the teachers thought the students were being mischievous, meting out punishment to those who would cough.
"We used to suppress it, but it grew worse, painful and we could not contain it any more," she said.
So mysterious is the cough that the cases the Star witnessed sounded like the cry of a monkey while they desperately held the sides of their chest, showing they were experiencing enormous pain.
One victim told the Star that:"I feel an extreme urge of a dry cough and sometimes I spit blood. My ribs are like they are on fire and my chest is almost bursting."
They also experience low-grade fever.
A senior teacher in the school told the Star the decision to release the students for an abrupt holiday was a way of diffusing tension in the institution as the students were apprehensive about the pain of their colleagues and wanted to go home.
"There is a lot of tension in the school. Even students are wondering why they are in school and yet their colleagues are sick," the teacher said.
The school said the condition is minor and is being handled.
In an statement to newsrooms explaining that decision, the centre’s director Jane Soita said the learners were given a break to recuperate as the administration sought to contain the mysterious disease.
The statement corroborated the picture of tension and apprehension painted by the students but added that it was manageable.
“..[We released the students] to dissipate the anxiety that has been building up amongst the girls. ....... The decision has also been taken in consideration of the Form 4 candidates preparing for the national examination," the statement said.
The four candidates who have caught the flu continue to receive medical attention, it added.
With no student admitted to hospital, the school explained that the blood samples from the affected ones have been collected for tests.
