Thread: Mexican government health officials rule out epidemic

April 6, 2007, 1:53AM
Mexican government health officials rule out epidemic at boarding school


By LISA J. ADAMS
Associated Press

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CHALCO, Mexico — Government health officials who examined about 600 female students suffering from symptoms that sparked fears of an epidemic at a Roman Catholic boarding school said Thursday the mystery illness was psychosomatic.

Media coverage showing girls unable to walk out of the La Villa de las Ninas school in the state of Mexico prompted allegations of abuse by the South Korean nuns who run the school and treat the girls with traditional Asian medicine.

Victor Manuel Torres, assistant director of epidemiology at the Mexico State Health Institute, told The Associated Press the teenage girls appear to have suffered from "psychosomatic symptoms."

The cause "probably comes from being in a state of isolation," he said.

The school houses more than 3,000 girls who are only allowed to see their families three times a year. The institution's several buildings sit on a sprawling complex of manicured lawns, running tracks and soccer fields outside Mexico City. The school offers free education for low-income families across Mexico and has been in operation for 17 years.

The school's headmaster, Mother Superior Margie Cheong, told a news conference Thursday that the first case emerged in October. By March, she said, about 600 girls suffered similar symptoms that included headaches and weak knees, prompting her to call health officials.

State and federal health and environmental officials examined the students and conducted studies on the soil, water, and garbage at the school, but found nothing, Cheong said.

She said once the school told students in late March about the findings, 80 percent immediately recovered. About 130 are still experiencing symptoms, she said.

The government plans to send in psychologists to speak to the student body on Monday, Cheong said.

Orfanelia Torres, 15, a student who sat on a plastic chair next to her mother inside the complex, said she has been feeling sick for about two weeks.

"I need them to help cure me," she said as her mother cried. "I don't believe it's psychological. When they said that to us, we all felt bad."

Some of the students also complained about the nuns treating them with Asian methods. Cheong said the nuns treated a very small number of girls with an herb called Suk, which they heated with a flame. They then applied the smoking herb to the skin to help their circulation.

Cheong said she now realizes "that was a mistake."

"This is a different culture," she said. "It was never meant to hurt them."

She said she also regrets not immediately informing parents.

"I couldn't advise them," she said. "This was too big, and I couldn't tell them what the girls had because there was no diagnosis."

She allowed dozens of angry parents and relatives demanding to see their children into the school on Thursday.



http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4692932.html

This is about the most ridiculous reasoning I've yet heard.

Yes, I'm definitely going to TRUST mex officials concerning DISEASES they canNOT control!!

Righto.......now I feel much better.

The asses.

Hundreds sick in Mexico religious school mystery
Fri Apr 6, 2007 7:06pm ET20

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hundreds of girls at a Mexican boarding school run by Catholic nuns have been struck by a mystery illness that authorities say is psychological, raising questions about conditions inside the academy.

Headmistress Margie Cheong, a nun from South Korea, said on Friday it was unclear what had caused the symptoms, which include difficulty walking and nausea.

"We really don't know the cause, but the diagnosis by health authorities is of a psychological ailment," Cheong said.

Some 600 of the 4,000 girls at the Villa de las Ninas school had been affected, she said, and 300 children had left the school, which offers a free secondary education to children from poor families.

Television images showed parents taking their children from the school, some carried in their arms, others grasped tightly to stop them falling over.

Cheong said she had only recently alerted parents and authorities of the illnesses, despite the first cases having appeared in October, because she did not want to cause panic.

Government psychologists will begin interviews with pupils next week to determine what happened.

Some of the students have complained of overstrict disciplinary measures like being sent to sleep in an enclosure that housessheep.

Student Genesis Mauries says she was treated for a year for a lump on her neck with a scalding paste made from a Korean herb, which was placed in three places on her back where she now has three round scars. Since leaving the school she has been diagnosed with cancer.

Villa de las Ninas is on the outskirts of Mexico City and is run by the Sisters of Mary, a religious order founded in South Korea by U.S.-born Aloysius Schwartz, who died in 1992.

Cheong denied she had mistreated her pupils but said she would accept responsibility if the government investigations said otherwise.

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
http://link.toolbot.com/reuters.com/75017

How could they do that to the parents? I can't imagine how long has been these kids are suffering from isolation in that girl boarding school. What are they doing to the kids, these nuns need psychological help. Forgive my innocence, what is the specific religion of these nuns?