Wayanad: The health department has ordered a field-level probe into the recent deaths of three children due to fever and diarrhoea in Wayanad.
Shigella is suspected in the death of two of the children while health officials think H1N1 is the likely cause of the third fatality.
The team includes experts from the Departments of Pediatric and Community Medicine, Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Kozhikode, headed by Dr Asuma A, Department of Community Medicine, GMCH, Kozhikode.
The children were from the panchayats of Noolppuzha, Thirunelli and Kaniyampatta. Two of them had been admitted with high fever while the third one had fever and diarrheal infection.
The team visited the houses and enquired about the health of the family members. The team also visited hospitals, including WIMS Medical College, Meppadi, where two children died.
Though the experts in the district had a preliminary medical investigation into the death of children, the entire exercise proved futile as the series of tests ended up clueless.
The last of the deaths were of Libijit, son of Vinod, a native of Ambalamood Colony, Kaniyampatta who died on June 30. The child had a fever and diarrhoea for several days. When the condition worsened the child was taken to the GMCH at Mananthavady where the child breathed his last.
Another child Rudra, 4 years, daughter of Asokan, a native of Begur, Kattikkulam, died on Sunday. Though the child was admitted at GMCH, Mananthavady, later the child was shifted to WIMS Medical College, Meppadi.
The team is expected to submit a detailed report to the health department on Tuesday.
District Medical Officer, Dr Dineesh P told Onmanorama that the samples collected from the children were sent for detailed and specific diagnosing tests, the results of which would be received in three days.
“Only after the results are in we would be able to confirm the suspicion,” he said. However, Dr Dineesh dismissed the existence of any disease clusters and additional cases.