Reuters
Doctors have discovered their first lead in figuring out what is
causing the deaths of an alarming amount of children in Cambodia. We
alerted you to the story of the mystery illness that claimed the lives of at least 61 children
in the country on Friday. Most were dying within 24 hours of entering
the hospital with respiratory and neurological problems, while the rest
were only lasting about three days. Medical experts couldn't figure out
what the problem was, but it seemed to only affect children.
Now, doctors have discovered at least one disease plaguing the children, though there could be more. CNN reports the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia discovered 15 of 24 patients tested
came back positive for Enterovirus Type 71, a strain of hand, foot and
mouth disease that can cause severe neurological problems for children.
Adults' more developed immune systems are usually able to fight it off,
but a child's immune system is still vulnerable enough for the disease.
But the EV71 diagnosis still doesn't answer for the respiratory
problems bothering the children. A WHO official warned that more
analysis is needed. "We have now to see what really is causing the
deadly pulmonary complication and see if a toxic factor is playing a
role too," explained Dr. Beat Richner, who works at the Kantha Bopha
hospital where most of the patients have been treated. This Al-Jazeera report says Richner thinks bad prescriptions
from local hospitals could be a factor. "All these children have
encephalitis [inflammation of the brain] and in the later hours of their
life they develop a severe pneumonia with a destruction of the alveoli
in the lungs. That is the reason they die," Richner said.
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