KOZHIKODE: The health department has issued additional cautionary instructions post the death of a girl due to amoebic meningoencephalitis in Thamarassery. Nine-year-old Anaya Sanoop died of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis on Thursday. The health department has instructed people to refrain from bathing in ponds, water bodies, streams, rivers etc. within the limits of Thamarassery panchayat.
The health department has also conducted inspections in these areas. Four people, including the child’s relatives, are suffering from fever and are under observation at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. However, it is not clear how the girl contracted the disease. A week ago, she had gone swimming in a pond in Anappoyil near her house.
This being a stagnant pond, has increased the possibility of presence of the amoeba in the water. Therefore, the water in the pond was sent for testing by the health department. Anaya’s two brothers had also bathed in this pond and their saliva samples were also sent for testing. The authorities will also test the tap water used at home.
Anaya, a fourth-grade student at Korangad LP School, developed symptoms of fever after returning from school on Wednesday. The girl’s health condition deteriorated and she was brought to the Thamarassery Taluk Hospital on Thursday morning.
She was later shifted to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, but she had died by the time she reached here. Her parents have come forward with serious allegations against the Thamarassery Taluk Hospital in the incident.