7 CHILDREN DIE AFTER FEVER AND SEIZURES, DOCS SAY DISEASE IS STILL UNKNOWN

JAIPUR: Seven children, between the ages of two and 14, have died after showing symptoms such as fever and seizures at Fulabai Kheda and Fulaber villages in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district within four days, officials said on Friday.

Joint director (health) Jageshwar Prasad said they are yet to find the cause of the deaths. “...They seem to be cases of acute viral disease. But nothing can be said with certainty till their blood reports are received.”

Prasad said the deaths of the mysterious disease were reported within a day of the showing of the symptoms.

The mother of a five-year-old boy said her son woke up at 5 am and asked for water before he got seizures. She added the boy vomited before he died around 8 am.

Prasad said of the seven children, three had local flavoured ice. He added deaths could not have been caused so fast even in the case of food poisoning. “...two others [are] also [suspected to have] had the same ice but nobody saw them eating.”

Prasad said teams of doctors from Jaipur and Jodhpur will visit the area. “We are monitoring the situation...around 300 houses have been surveyed and 58 samples have been sent to a lab in Jaipur.” He added three children have been admitted to a hospital as a precautionary measure.

“They were having mild symptoms of cold and one has pneumonia,” said Prasad.

Kuldeep Singh, who heads the paediatric department at Jodhpur’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences, said it seems to be a case of a viral infection. “The state has sought our assistance and a team of doctors will be sent.”

Sirohi’s district collector Bhanwar Lal said the team of doctors was being deployed and the situation is constantly being monitored. “The cause still needs to be figured.”