‘Mass hysteria’ leads to closing down of 57 schools in Faridpur

It was just another day at Shibram RD Academy School in Faridpur, until a student Ritu Saha started experiencing difficulty while breathing.

Even as she was administered first aid, 37 of her classmates also reported similar symptoms.

Academy’s teacher Susanta Kumar said all the students were evacuated from the classrooms and gathered in the playground.

Meanwhile, 30 other students, mostly girls, also fell sick. They were all rushed to Faridpur Medical College Hospital (FMCH).

Fifty-seven schools of Faridpur Sadar Upazila have been closed for two days now .

Hundreds of students have succumbed to ‘mass hysteria’ .

Faridpur's Executive Magistrate (NDC)  Mandip Gharai said 103 students of Shibram RD Academy and Khalilpur High School experienced sickness during school time from Tuesday to Thursday.

FMCH Supervisor Ganapati Biswas said that Faridpur could be experiencing an outbreak of  Mass Psychological Disease (MPD). Hundreds of students, mostly girls between Class 6 and 10, have been affected.

The disease starts with a student feeling out of  breath, with the rest developing symptoms driven by anxiety that rippled through the school, he said.

District Education Officer Parimal Chandra Mandal said, the schools would remain closed on Saturday and Sunday as a precautionary measure and to figure out what happened..

According to Magistrate Gharai, the district administration has set up a three members’ committee to investigate what led to the MPD outbreak.

 “The disease is nothing serious. The situation would be back to normal after a few days,” said Ganpati Biswas.

The investigation committee is yet to identify the reason behind the domino effect of sickness.