The mysterious disease that affected over 60 students at Starehe Girls Centre has been revealed.
According to the Ministry of health, the 68 students suffered from Mass Hysteria.
Mass Hysteria is also described as a “conversion disorder,” in which a person has physiological symptoms affecting the nervous system in the absence of a physical cause of illness, and which may appear in reaction to psychological distress.
Since mass hysteria, or collective obsessional behaviour, can take so many different forms, it is very difficult to provide a clear definition for it or to characterize it with confidence.
Modern medical professionals have abandoned using the term “hysteria” to denote a diagnostic category, replacing it with more precisely defined categories.
The discovery comes hours after Starehe Girls, in Nairobi, was closed indefinitely after an unknown disease broke out.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the school stated that cases of unknown diseases presenting symptoms of high pitched cough, sneezing and low-grade fever were on the increase.
The decision to close down the school on Thursday was met with a lot of criticism, with some parents getting concerned on whether the suspected illness was infectious.
The cause for worry was that in case of an infectious disease, the affected students would affect other members of the public if sent home without any form of medication.
School director, Sister Jane Soita, said the school was working closely with the Ministry of Health, Department of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Response and the Nairobi sub-county department to contain the situation.
Nairobi Regional Director of Education, Jared Obiero, on Thursday, noted that the school would re-open on Monday, October 7.