Four children died of an unknown disease in the last six days while 22 are under treatment at Tripura Palli of Sonairkul, South Udalia, Farhadabad Union under Hathhazari in Chittagong.
The four dead are Anna Bala Tripura, 6, Souma Roy, 3, Anna Ray Tripuira, 5, and Shimuni Chakma, 4.
Among them, Anna Bala, Souma Roy and Anna Ray were three daughters of Shamu Kumar Chakma of Tripura Palli while Shimuni Chakma was the daughter of Ramesh Chakma of the same area.
Hathhazari Health Complex health officer Abu Syed Mohammad Imtiazuddin told New Age 22 other children of the remote hilly area were suffering from the same disease which could not be identified as yet.
He said on Sunday morning, ‘We visited the affected area and talked with 52 families living at a very unhygienic place. We did counseling and medical checkup.’
‘After checkup, we identified 22 patients suffering from the same symptoms. Then we brought them to the upazila health complex,’ he said.
They were admitted with fever, respiratory problems and rashes. Of them, the condition of three was vulnerable. They were suffering for acute malnutrition, said the physician.
The deaths of children caused panic among the local people.
They alleged that nearly 52 families had been living in Tripura Palli but no health attendant ever visited there.
The children who died at first had fever and then rashes on their legs, which spread to other parts of their body within a week.
People of the locality find it difficult to go to Udalia Community Clinic which is four kilometers away.
Upazila Health Complex health officer told New Age, ‘We would collect samples and sent them to Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research for diagnose.’
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Akterunnesa Shiuli told New Age that local administration had taken necessary measures soon after the incident.