Priya Gomes, who fell ill after eating at a breakfast party in Maracas last week Thursday, remains warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and has seen a woman on her ward die and another close to death’s door (both from unrelated illnesses). “I am in bed 10 on Ward 53, a female ward,” Gomes, 33, told the T&T Guardian yesterday afternoon. “The person on bed 12 died and they are trying to resuscitate another one four beds down. I just want to leave this place.”
Gomes has posted photos on her Facebook wall showing her hooked up to IV drips. She has virtually been living on drips since she contracted what doctors believe is gastro-enteritis from having breakfast at a party that started at 5 am organised by AM Premium. Gomes, an occupational therapist and chairman of the T&T Occupational Therapy Association, was hospitalised six days after the breakfast party.
Initially, the T&T Guardian was told at least 30 people fell ill but the numbers of those who have been posting on Facebook that they fell ill from the event have been growing and it is suspected that about 100 of the 150 to 200 people who attended the event have also fallen ill. “It’s bigger than how they are trying to make it out,” one affected person, Raquel Sampson, said. “There are people who got sick who returned to their homes abroad and others took food home for their children.”
The organisers of the event had at first,narrowed it down to contaminated saltfish, one of the items on the menu. Yesterday, organiser Marsha Thompson said there were people who got sick who did not eat the saltfish and the promoters were still trying to figure it out. Thompson said their investigations into the matter are continuing. She declined to disclose the name of the caterers to the T&T Guardian.
“We are not sure now if it’s the saltfish. People who didn’t eat the saltfish got sick. We are working with the Ministry of Health on the matter.” Thompson said she is in contact with a doctor at the Port-of-Spain Hospital who has been updating her on Gomes’ condition. Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said Thursday an infection control committee is doing the investigation which might take a while. He said they needed to make contact with the event’s caterers.
Gomes’ case
Gomes started feeling ill the very Thursday and by last Saturday morning was suffering with diarrhoea, stomach and body pains, headache and a high temperature and had to visit the St James Medical Complex. She had been using a prescription and seeing a doctor at her Diego Martin home and, although she could barely eat anything and was on IV fluids, thought she was recovering. “I was drinking coconut water and eating a little crackers.”
But by Tuesday, some of the symptoms started reappearing and by Wednesday she was hospitalised. Gomes said Ministry of Health officials visited the hospital to get samples from her in an ongoing investigation into the outbreak. She recalled how she ended up at the hospital: “Wednesday morning I woke up feeling as if my head was going to explode. “I had taken migraine medication and ended up vomiting a fluorescent yellow and my family decided that was enough. They called an ambulance and took me to the hospital.
“The doctors said I was severely dehydrated, my blood pressure was very low and my eyes were sunken. “They put me on drips again and the first bag finished in 15 minutes.” On Thursday, she used four to five bags of IV fluids and by midday, they took her off and began giving her clear fluids like water, juices and tea. “By Thursday night, I was allowed soft foods. I had apple sauce and a slice of bread.