COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) Dean B Asokan on Tuesday confirmed the outbreak of diphtheria at Kadambur Hill in Erode district. Asokan said that the condition of nine children admitted to CMCH from Kadambur Hills was stable and they were recovering well.
The children were put on a course of crystalline Penicillin (procured from Puducherry) and anti-diphtheria serum sourced from the Public Health Department.
Meanwhile, a team of officials, including an epidemiologist – one who studies the pattern and causes of diseases in humans – from the Health department, were in Erode to trace the outbreak to its source. Sources said that all the nine children – between the ages of eight and 16 – admitted to CMCH were students of the same school at Kadambur.
They were brought to the hospital with symptoms of the infection and were soon diagnosed with diphtheria, locally known as thondai adaipaan noi.There are 12 reported cases of children contracting the infection in the past one week in Kadambur Hill. The infection has claimed the life of two minor boys in the region so far. “We could not trace the medical history of the children or the types of vaccination they have been administered. However, we are providing treatment and their health condition is stable now,” the dean explained.
Precautionary measures
Reacting to the development, director of public health Dr K Kolandaswamy said, “We have admitted five to six cases in Erode GH and Coimbatore GH each as a precautionary measures. We are keeping Pharyngitis and Laryngitis cases also under our supervision to rule out diphtheria”