PCF Sparkletots kids hit by food poisoning

When Mrs Joey Phoon received a call from the teacher that her oldest daughter, four, had a fever and diarrhoea, she did not think much about it.

But about two hours later, she got another two calls that her three-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter also had fever and diarrhoea.

It was then she suspected it had to do with the Sparkletots pre-school her children attended.

Mrs Phoon, 36, told The New Paper: "I began to realise something wasn't right. I called the school (again) to ask if there was any activity they were doing that day that could have caused the fever, but there wasn't."

That night, the information technology professional took her youngest daughter to Mount Elizabeth Hospital when her fever reached 40.3 deg C.

She was given medication, but two days later, Mrs Phoon found her daughter was too lethargic to even walk.

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She took the toddler back to the hospital where she was admitted. Hospital tests of her daughter's stool sample revealed she had salmonella.

Last Thursday, six children from the PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots pre-school at Block 290A Sengkang Central suffered from fever and diarrhoea after a case of food poisoning, said Mr Samuel Ng, PCF's corporate affairs manager.

He said PCF is assisting the National Environmental Agency (NEA) and the Ministry of Health with investigations.

The school had been catering meals from an NEA licensed food caterer since August last year, Mr Ng added.

PCF Sparkletots has since suspended food catering at the centre.

In a memo sent to parents, the school noted that it was taking extra precautionary measures to ensure the health of pupils.

Mrs Phoon was upset that her daughter, who was discharged on Monday, had to go through the experience.

She said: "We send them to school because we know they can learn, develop and be well taken care of. This pain and suffering is not something parents can bear in place of them."