Kerala Intensifies Shigella Fight After Child's Death: Food Safety Boosted
Kerala Intensifies Shigella Fight After Child's Death: Food Safety Boosted
Kerala's Health Dept. boosts food safety checks in restaurants & schools after a 4-year-old's death from Shigella. Minister urges vigilance against infection.
Following the tragic death of a four-year-old girl in Kozhikode district from Shigella on Saturday, the Kerala Health department has swiftly escalated its preventive measures. Health Minister K. Muraleedharan announced on Sunday that comprehensive directives have been issued to Food Safety officials, instructing them to conduct thorough checks at restaurants and wayside eateries to ensure strict adherence to food safety norms.
Minister Muraleedharan highlighted the severity of the situation, noting that three children in Kozhikode were infected with Shigella. While one child has been discharged, a two-year-old remains in stable condition. Shigella, an intestinal infection, manifests with symptoms such as fever, stomach ache, and diarrhoea. The minister also addressed a scare in Wayanad, where several school students exhibited symptoms like vomiting. Although preliminary reports from doctors at Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, suggest it's not Shigella, samples have been sent for further testing to confirm.
The Health Minister stressed that unclean water sources and unhygienic conditions at eateries are significant contributors to the spread of such infections. He emphasized that despite regulations, many restaurants fail to provide boiled drinking water to customers, a practice the Food Safety department is now tasked with strictly enforcing. Furthermore, wayside eateries operating in unsanitary environments face closure. Instructions have also been issued to test well water samples and inspect mid-day meals provided in schools. Local bodies are urged to actively participate in maintaining public cleanliness to curb the spread of diseases.
