Dozens of girls in Kenya supposedly sick with a crippling “disease” were victims of hysteria, authorities have claimed.

More than 100 students were suddenly run over last week at a girls’ school in Musoli, 374 kilometers northwest of Nairobi.

Alarming images circulating online apparently showed pupils struggling to walk and shaking uncontrollably.

Bedridden children were also seen convulsing in what appeared to be a hospital in clips purporting to show the extent of the crisis.

But local officials have now said that the mysterious series of cases was actually sparked by hysteria. They blamed students’ anxiety over the upcoming end-of-year exams.

Alarming images circulating online apparently showed pupils struggling to walk and shaking uncontrollably. Bedridden children were also seen convulsing in what appeared to be a hospital in clips that claimed to show the extent of the crisis.

More than 100 students were suddenly run over last week at a girls’ school in Musoli, 374 kilometers northwest of Nairobi. But local officials have now said that the mysterious series of cases was actually sparked by hysteria. They blamed student anxiety over upcoming end-of-year exams

Tests carried out on samples taken from affected students ruled out any infection at the school.

Kenyan health chiefs immediately launched an investigation into the cause of the outbreak, fearing could have “disastrous” consequences if it were infectious.

However, the local news website Africa Nation reported Dr Bernard Wesonga as saying: “Samples were collected from students who were admitted at four hospitals within the county and taken to government laboratories where we conducted both culture and sensitivity testing.”

The Kakamega County Health Executive added: ‘The results have shown that the students did not suffer from any illness.

“This indicates a psychological challenge that could have been driven by panic.”

What is mass psychogenic illness?

Mass psychogenic illness is sometimes called mass hysteria or epidemic hysteria.

There is no real way to tell how common they are.

However, previous MPI cases reveal that women are more likely to be affected than men. It often starts with an individual.

Stress can affect the body in many different ways.

According to Robert Bartholomew, an American sociologist specializing in mass hysteria and social panic, there are two main types of IPM.

writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine in 2013, stated that the most common in Western countries (anxiety hysteria) is triggered by sudden, extreme stress within a close-knit group.

A second type, motor hysteria, results from prolonged anxiety with common signs including twitching, trembling, difficulty walking, uncontrollable laughing and crying, communication difficulties, and trance states.

In his book ‘Mass Hysteria in Schools: A World History since 1566’, he also said: ‘Any place where students gather, whether a classroom, a schoolyard, a sports field, or field trips, can be a fertile ground for the growth of rumors and social conflicts. hallucinations.

Published in 2012, it added: “Under certain conditions, episodes can turn into genuine mass hysteria.”

Boniface Kibaki, education secretary of the Catholic diocese of Kakamega, told local media outlet ACI Africa that the hospitalized students had been tested and found to be free of infection.

‘The medical results have shown negative results. There is no disease. “It’s more of a psychological issue,” Kibaki said, the outlet said.

Blood, feces and urine samples from the murdered girls were sent to laboratories.

Conflicting reports in local newspapers caused confusion over whether Musoli’s school had temporarily closed. But the Ministry of Education confirmed last week that it was still open.

However, some parents chose to take their children out of school as a precaution.

Doctors, anthropologists and sociologists who have studied mass hysteria, known medically as mass psychogenic illness (MPI), have so far failed to find a clear explanation for the phenomenon.

Previous MPI cases reveal that women are more likely to be affected than men. It often starts with an individual.

According to Robert Bartholomew, an American sociologist specializing in mass hysteria and social panic, there are two main types of IPM.

writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine in 2013, stated that anxiety hysteria is triggered by sudden, extreme stress within a close-knit group.

This is often the result of a strange odor that is believed to be harmful.

Symptoms usually include dizziness, headache, fainting, and changes in breathing, but most patients recover within 24 hours.

A second type, motor hysteria, results from prolonged anxiety with common signs including twitching, tremors, difficulty walking, uncontrollable laughing and crying, communication difficulties, and trance-like states.

In a similar case in 2015, 40 schoolchildren in the United Kingdom were treated by ambulance crews for nausea and fainting caused by anxiety.

All the children at Outwood Academy in Ripon, North Yorkshire, attended a memorial service in their assembly hall.

Firefighters sent to the scene found no signs of hazardous materials, but did find heat in the room.

In what appeared to be a case of mass hysteria, the North Yorkshire fire service suspected that a handful of children fainted and the rest developed anxiety-driven symptoms that spread throughout the school.

In 1965 an “overbreathing epidemic” occurred in Blackburn after 85 girls fainted in two hours at a school in the town.

The students were admitted to the hospital with symptoms including fainting and dizziness.

The causes were suspected to be anxiety, viruses, food poisoning and a gas leak, but nothing could be proven. Other officials believed it was mass hysteria.