Toxic behavior: what is known about the mass poisoning in Yekaterinburg

A mass poisoning among teenagers occurred in the dormitory of the Specialized Educational and Scientific Center of the Ural Federal University (SUNC UrFU). As a result of intoxication, three dozen people felt unwell and sought medical help, 28 of them were hospitalized. The victims were diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis. The prosecutor's office began checking the incident. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Mass poisoning of schoolchildren in Yekaterinburg

On the morning of March 12, an outbreak of intestinal infection was recorded in the dormitory of the specialized educational and scientific center of the Ural Federal University of Yekaterinburg (SUNC UrFU). This was reported by the Ministry of Health of the Sverdlovsk region.

More than 30 people sought medical help with symptoms of general malaise, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. Of these, 28 people were hospitalized. Most of the victims are students aged 16-18, and one adult was also hospitalized. Five ambulance crews are working on the site, as well as an infectious disease specialist at the Territorial Disaster Medicine Center of the Sverdlovsk region. According to doctors, the patients' condition is currently close to satisfactory.

According to preliminary data, the victims were diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach, small and large intestine caused by viruses or bacteria. Pavel Krekov, Deputy Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region, instructed Andrei Karlov, Minister of Health, to conduct an operational examination of all 206 students who could also have contracted the infection. The educational institution was temporarily switched to a distance learning format.

What could have caused the poisoning of the students

The prosecutor's office of the Kirovsky district of Yekaterinburg has launched an investigation into the mass poisoning of students at the UrFU SUNC. The canteen of the educational institution, where students could have contracted acute gastroenteritis, is also being checked.

"Medical workers are currently examining children in the dormitory where nonresident students of the SUNC live. In addition, information is being collected from students living with their parents at their place of residence about their health status," the department said.

As one of the tenth-graders later explained to RG, poisoning was recorded specifically among teenagers from the dormitory. At the same time, in the canteen of the SUNC URFU, everyone eats regularly several times a day. The day before, most of the teenagers also visited the cafeteria and today they feel good.

"Since it was the guys from the dormitory who were poisoned, it is possible that they ordered some kind of ready-made food delivery, this is not forbidden by the lyceum management," the schoolgirl suggested. "My classmates who live there don't have any signs of poisoning, they feel good," she explained.

According to KP, citing a source, before the poisoning, students of the UrFU SUNC ordered rolls en masse, allegedly on the ill-fated evening there were about five deliveries from Japanese restaurants to the dormitory. However, it is not yet clear whether they could have caused poisoning.

Poisoning of schoolchildren with soy meat in the Moscow region

Poisoning with substandard products in educational institutions occurs regularly for one reason or another. So, in the Moscow suburb of Krasnoarmeysk, six schoolchildren were hospitalized after they tasted crab-flavored soy meat, which became popular on TikTok. According to Izvestia, the incident occurred on March 7.

The source of the publication clarified that one of the students bought crab-flavored soy meat at the store and brought it to school. However, there was no label in Russian on the product packaging. After the children tasted the meat, they felt symptoms of poisoning and were urgently hospitalized.

It was reported that all teenagers had a reaction to the strong peppery smell of meat. It is also worth noting that the teacher, who was in the classroom at the time of the incident, also had an allergic reaction.

After the poisoning, a criminal case was opened into the provision of services that did not meet the requirements of life and health safety, which led to mass poisoning of minors (Part 1 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Mass poisoning of children in Khabarovsk

In Khabarovsk, 25 students of school No. 68 sought medical help with symptoms of intestinal infection, and a criminal case was opened into the incident. This was announced on February 28 by the regional prosecutor's office.

"From February 17 to February 23, 2025, 25 students of school No. 68 sought medical help with signs of intestinal infection. Hospitalization was not required," the department said in a Telegram message.

During the inspection, it turned out that meals at the educational institution were organized under a municipal contract with JSC "Food Factory", which violated sanitary and epidemiological requirements. In this regard, a criminal case has been opened under Article 236 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Violation of sanitary and epidemiological requirements").

After the incident, disinfection measures were carried out in the educational institution.