Mysterious illness claims life of three children

Doctors believe that the children may have died due to an illness known as meningococcemia

BHAKKAR:  

A mysterious illness claimed the life of three children belonging to the same family in Mianwali’s Nurpur tehsil, Express News reported on Wednesday. Another child from the same family is currently under treatment at Mianwali District Headquarter Hospital.

Reportedly, six-year-old Haroon died on Sunday, 11-year-old Yasmeen on Monday and four-year-old Asma on Tuesday after suffering from a mysterious illness

Speaking to Express News, Asma’s father Zar Muhammad stated that the child had initially complained of a fever and leg pain. After complaining of leg pain, she had sat down, he said. We consulted a doctor at Mianwali District Headquarter Hospital in the morning but her fever had spiked and her legs had become weak and numb, he added.

“The doctor prescribed her medicines and gave her an IV drip. In this duration, black marks appeared on the child’s body,” he recalls. Doctors advised us to take her to Rawalpindi, but she died on the way there, he expressed.

Meanwhile, Haroon’s father said that the child only had a fever. We admitted him to a hospital where doctors told us to take him to Lahore and Rawalpindi. We took him to Benazir Hospital in Rawalpindi where he died during treatment, he said.

Mianwali Health CEO Dr Latif said that he and his team have visited the area. They are currently testing the rest of the children in the family. Doctors believe that the children may have died due to meningococcemia, where a rash turns the skin blotchy while the face may also turn blue.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Obaidullah is currently hospitalised at Mianwali District Headquarter Hospital. He is the brother of deceased Asma.