Malappuram girl's death not due to jaundice, says health dept

Malappuram: There was no conclusive evidence to affirm that the death of a 15-year-old girl in Malappuram was due to viral hepatitis, health department officials said. Dilsha Sherin from Pulikkal in Chelembra panchayat died on June 30. Initial reports suggested that she died of jaundice. Health officials in Malappuram said that her postmortem was not done and also no test was done for viral hepatitis.

“The girl died four days after symptoms surfaced. She was initially taken to a family health centre with a fever on June 27. The next day she was taken to a private hospital at Ramanattukara. The girl died four days after symptoms. Elevated levels of liver enzymes were detected. She went home and the next day her condition worsened and she was brought dead to hospital. We understand that postmortem was not done,'' a health official said.

Liver inflammation was detected in the girl, but that could be because of other reasons as well. "There is no sample to probe that. Also, tests were not done. As of now, her death is not accounted as Hepatitis A death in Malappuram because we can't identify the reason,'' the official said.

The death was reported at a time when Malappuram was grappling with an outbreak of Hepatitis A cases in various panchayats. The death was attributed to jaundice, however, health department officials couldn't find any plausible links to connect the demise to jaundice. Dilsha, daughter of Abdul Saleem and Hayarunnissa, was a student at a school in Vaidyarangadi.