The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : 3 children attacked by wasp

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

3 children attacked by wasp

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: Three children from Mannamkala, Changa, near Aryanad in the district, were admitted in a critically ill state at the SAT hospital on Tuesday evening after they were attacked by a swarm of wasps.

The wasps,known locally as `Pathaya kadannal,' attacked the children after they threw stones at their colony.

The children, identified as Subhash, 10, Anish, 14, and Thampikkutty, 14, were brought in to the casualty wing of SAT hospital in a badly injured condition and were rushed to the intensive care unit. Hospital superintendent K. Rajmohan said that the children had fallen into anaphylactic shock — a severe multi-system allergic reaction, that can lead to death if left untreated — and that their blood pressure was very low when they were brought in. The reaction is triggered by the foreign protein present in the sting of the insect.

Condition improving

Even minute amounts can produce severe allergic reactions. Their condition improved following the immediate administration of medicines. However, they were still being kept in the ICU.

Thiruvonam turned out to be one of the busiest days for the staff in the casualty wing of SAT hospital, with a stream of cases, including accidents, being brought in from morning.

By 7 p.m., the staff had attended to about 120 emergency cases, Dr. Rajmohan said.

This was probably because many private clinics and hospitals in the periphery were either closed or running with minimum staff, he added.

At SAT, staff attendance was ensured through shift arrangements. All those who worked on Thiruvonam day were provided `Onasadya' with payasam by the hospital administration.

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