Amoebic fever: two patients at Kozhikode MCH critical

The condition of least two of the 10 patients currently undergoing treatment for amoebic meningoencephalitis at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, is reported to be serious.

Sources, however, said that both the patients have existing health issues or co-morbidities. One of them is reported to be suffering from liver cirrhosis and another has meningitis. Of the 10 patients, two kids are being treated at the Institute of Maternal and Child Health attached to the hospital. Two other patients, a 52-year-old woman from Vengara in Malappuram and a three-month-old child from Omassery in Kozhikode, had died at the hospital between August 31 and September 1.

Meanwhile, Minister for Forest and Wildlife A.K. Saseendran has allocated ₹8 lakh for buying a phase contrast microscope that enhances the visibility of specimen, for the Microbiology department. A release said that the equipment with a photomicrograph would help diagnose the infection quicker so that the medical treatment can be started at the earliest. Though the National Medical Commission mandates that all Microbiology departments should have this microscope, required numbers are not available at the Kozhikode MCH, it is learnt.