A nine-year-old boy of Malliamman Durgham, a remote settlement at Kadambur hills, who was suffering from suspected diphtheria, died on the way to hospital in Chennai on Saturday morning.
The Class IV student at the Panchayat Union Middle School in the hamlet, A. Kasi Prasanth, was suffering from sore throat and fever for a week and later complained of difficulty in swallowing. He developed complications and was found with swelling of the neck (bull neck) after which he was taken to the Primary Health Centre at Kadambur and later to Taluk Hospital at Sathyamangalam. He was again taken to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital and was referred to Government General Hospital at Chennai. However, he died on the way to the hospital.
His classmate, a girl, is also suffering from the same symptoms and was admitted to a private hospital at Coimbatore on Friday evening.
A medical team from the Department of Health Services conducted camps in the hamlet on Friday and immunised 23 children and also screened other people. The team is also conducting camps at hamlets in Kadambur and Guthiyalathur in the hills on Saturday.
Deputy Director of Health Services S. Soundammal told The Hindu that the disease, which was common 30 years ago, is transmitted from person to person through respiration. It infects the throat, upper airways and produces a toxin affecting other organs, she added.
The infection is caused by a bacteria Cornyebacterium diphtheriae and the infected person, if not treated earlier, will lead to death in the advanced stage, she also said. She said that medical team will be screening the people in the hills for the next 10 days and asked people with fever or other symptoms to approach the nearest health centre immediately.
This is the first case of death due to diphtheria reported in the district as officials said that due to improved vaccination coverage, no deaths were reported in the State in recent years. They added that the travel history of the boy, whether he was immunised, his immunity level and other factors would be studied. The body is expected to reach the hamlet on Saturday evening.