Four more students test positive for cholera in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The health department has confirmed four more cholera cases among the inmates of the special school in Neyyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram. So far the department has confirmed seven cholera cases and one suspected death from the hostel operated by Sree Karunya Mission Charitable School Society.

There are 22 patients under treatment. Of them, 14 are admitted to Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram, two to SAT Hospital and six to the Community Health Centre at Iranimuttom.

The health department, however, could not trace the origin of the cholera infection in a special school hostel in Thiruvananthapuram. Samples collected from the well water have turned negative. Health department has started monitoring people who had gone home before the issue was reported and their families.

The department confirmed cholera on a 10-year-old inmate of the school on Tuesday, four days after another died of similar symptoms. The death was attributed to cholera though no tests could be conducted on the victim. The special school authorities advised parents to take their children home following the incident and closed the school for a week. So far the state has reported eight cholera cases, including one in Kasaragod, in the state. The department plans to utilise the isolation wards in Iranimuttom if the number of patients goes up.