All 154 Katsina Students Recover After Bilharzia Drug Reaction

All 154 students of Government Science Secondary School (Boarding), Batagarawa, in Katsina State, who suffered adverse reactions after receiving medication for bilharzia (schistosomiasis), have fully recovered and been discharged from hospital, with no fatalities recorded, the Katsina State Police Command has confirmed.

The incident occurred on Monday, October 26, 2026, during a treatment and prevention exercise organised by Primary Health Care authorities in collaboration with Batagarawa Local Government. The school’s principal, Sanusi Maude, had earlier reported a suspected bilharzia outbreak at the school clinic. Health workers administered Praziquantel tablets to more than 700 students in two batches. The first batch, treated on Friday, October 24, experienced no reported problems. The second batch on Monday triggered widespread symptoms including vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness and, in some cases, loss of consciousness.

Initial reports put the number of hospitalised students at about 64. Later police and official updates established that 154 students required medical attention. They were evacuated to General Hospital Katsina, Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital and Turai Yar’Adua Maternal and Child Hospital after a distress call reached the Divisional Police Officer for Batagarawa around 4:20 pm.

The Medical Director of Amadi Rimi Specialist Hospital, Dr Auwal Sani, confirmed that some students arrived unconscious but responded well to treatment. Dosage was determined by height measurement, with students receiving between one and three tablets according to their height. Students Abubakar Muhammad Khairi and Hassan Muhammad told reporters that health workers measured them before distributing the tablets. One account also alleged that those who hesitated or refused the medication were threatened with physical punishment.

Separate claims, first circulated by security analyst Zagazola Makama, alleged that some teachers beat students who complained of feeling unwell, accusing them of pretending to be sick. Official statements have not addressed those specific allegations in detail.

By Wednesday morning, state officials reported that more than 80 per cent of the affected students had already been discharged. The Commissioner for Health, Musa Adamu Funtua, and the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Yusuf Sulaiman Jibia, both confirmed that the students were recovering and that arrangements were under way for their return to school. Police later announced that the remaining 25 in-patients had also been treated and discharged. All 154 students were said to be in good health and had been reunited with their families and schoolmates.

Commissioner of Police Ali Umar Fage thanked residents for remaining calm and cooperative throughout the episode. In a statement signed by Police Public Relations Officer DSP Abubakar Sadiq, the command urged the public to disregard unverified rumours, particularly false claims of deaths at the school, and to rely only on official sources.

The state government has said an investigation is ongoing to determine the exact cause of the reactions. Questions remain about dosage, medical supervision, whether parents were informed in advance, and the handling of students who fell ill during the exercise.

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Bilharzia, also known as schistosomiasis, is a parasitic infection linked to contaminated freshwater and is commonly targeted through school-based mass drug administration campaigns using Praziquantel.

Parents and the school community have expressed relief at the full recovery of the students, while authorities continue to probe what went wrong in the administration of the medication.