At least 7 children, aged below 14 years, have died in Chilli village in Palwal district in Haryana, over the past three weeks.

State health officials have camped in a panchayat house to look into the cause of the deaths. Similar deaths have been reported among children in West Bengal′s Siliguri district.

The villagers have claimed that the deaths were caused by a dengue outbreak; however, the authorities have stated that they are yet to determine a link. A state government team, which includes an epidemiologist, a science officer, and health inspectors, is evaluating the pattern in the village. It is reported that the authorities have pointed to a possibility that children had died due to multiple illnesses owing to lack of sanitation.

The Chief Medical Officer of Palwal district, Dr. Brahmdeep Sandhu, told The Indian Express that officials are not ruling out dengue, but they have not received a positive dengue report. Dr. Sandhu mentioned that two deaths were due to suspected pneumonia, one was a case of severe anemia, another one was due to fever from gastroenteritis, one was a case of acute fever, and another one was a result of fever with shock. Dr. Sandhu added that a month-old infant died on Tuesday without any illness.

Tests are being conducted for malaria, dengue, COVID-19, and other vector-borne diseases among 2,947 individuals in 275 houses in the village. A total of 25 teams are at work to diagnose and investigate the cause of these deaths. While authorities have reported that they counted seven deaths over three weeks, the villagers and sarpanch stated that the figure was at least nine.

The symptoms noted among the children who succumbed included high fever, vomiting, rash and low platelet count. The children have been reported to have died within three to four days of contracting fever.

Source: NewsBytes