Mass fainting of students in a school in Betania, Antioquia: this is the explanation of the authorities

High school students, during a cultural event in Betania, Antioquia, they began to feel unwell. The strange thing is that as time went by, more young people presented the same symptoms, until several of them fainted, vomited and suffered from nausea. One of the first hypotheses that those who attended to the situation handled was that it was a panic attack.

In the Perla de Citará educational institutionlocated in the municipality of Betania, Antioquia, a cultural activity with more than 20 high school students was developing calmly when some of the young people began to feel bad, as the minutes passed, according to some of those who witnessed the event. moment, more minors presented the same symptoms after seeing the condition of their peers.

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It all started with five students from the institution who expressed dizziness and general discomfort, which is why they were quickly treated at school. The problem came when more students said they had the same symptoms and also needed medical attention.

The mayor of Bethany, who was present at the cultural event, explained in an interview with Snail Radio, that the event was suspended and an attempt was made to return to classes, “We saw that it was very repetitive that some children fainted. We then decided to cancel the event and return the children to classes. When they entered, the fainting continued and classes were immediately suspended.”

The situation reached the point where several of the young people convulsed and others had headaches, as reported by the municipality’s fire department. For this reason, several of the minors, most between 11 and 15 years old, were transferred to the San Antonio de Betania hospital.

According to what was reported by local authorities, when the minors saw the state of health of their classmates, they also began to feel sick. In fact, some of the students reported the symptoms while they were in the hospital waiting room waiting to see how his friends were doing.

Meanwhile, although initially there were 25 students who were taken to the hospital for treatment, In the end, there were a total of 32 students who needed medical attention. Although, according to the Mayor’s Office, most of these were discharged a few hours later.

Seeing the particularity of the situation, the medical coordinator of the San Antonio de Betania hospital, Julián Mesa, He came to a hypothesis after analyzing the clinical signs and interviewing the boys. “It makes us think that we are facing a collective episode of panic. This does not mean that it is not a clinical care situation; however, it minimizes the risk of fatalities,” he said.

The doctor also appealed for peace of mind to parents and townspeople saying, “Please do not spread so-called gossip about the matter. So far the cause is being investigated, there is no clear cause. If they hear that it was poisoning or a spell. try not to pay attention to those ideas because it is still being investigated”

And some people outside the hospital also put forward their theories. The one that sounded the most in Bethanyis that in addition to the panic attack, it could have been poisoning due to the consumption of some psychoactive substance and there is even the theory on the table that the cause was heat stroke.

However, the mother of one of the affected young people did not agree with doctor Julián Mesa’s hypothesis and demanded that an investigation be carried out promptly. “It is intolerable that they give a diagnosis of an anxiety attack, an episode that happened with our children and adolescents with fainting and seizures. What happened is not normal, we need clarity about this event,” he published on his social networks.