A fever outbreak in two villages of Tiruvallur district has so far led to the death of four children, hospitalisation of 10 kids and outpatient treatment for 92 others.
On Saturday, a team of officials, including the District Collector visited the villages, Adi Andhrawada and Kaverirajapuram, and initiated control measures, said Director of Public Health K. Kolandaisamy.
On Friday, a quack from a nearby village was arrested. On Saturday, D. Mohan, 9, and S. Mohan Kumar, 6, from Adi Andhrawada, sons of labourers, who had been admitted to the Institute of Child Health, Egmore, died.
On Thursday, five-year-old Santhosh died, and on August 13, four-year-old B. Yuvraj, from Kaverirajapuram, died.
While the hospital said the deaths were not due to dengue — as serological tests on Mohan Kumar and Yuvraj were found to be negative and could have been a result of viral or water-borne infections, Dr. Kolandaisamy said the infections are suspected to have been viral and mosquito-borne. Dengue has not been ruled out, he said.
