10 more children from Indore shelter home admitted to hospital for food poisoning, seven in ICU

Indore,: Another ten children from a shelter home here were admitted to hospital for suspected food poisoning on Wednesday which took the number of under-treatment kids from the private-run institution to 48, officials said.

Worms have been found in the stools of some of the hospitalised children but the exact reason behind their illness was not yet known, a senior doctor said.

Four children from the Shri Yugpurush Dham Bal Ashram, located in Malharganj area, died on Monday and Tuesday due to infection caused by suspected food poisoning, while another child had died on Sunday after suffering from seizures, District Collector Ashish Singh had said earlier.

A total of 48 children from the Ashram, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea, are undergoing treatment at the Government Chacha Nehru Children's Hospital, its superintendent Dr Preeti Malpani informed.

"Out of these, seven are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The condition of three of them is relatively serious," she added.

Worms were found in the children's stools in general laboratory investigation, but the situation will be clear only after receiving the stool culture report, Dr Malpani said.

Doctors examined about 150 other children housed in the Ashram and their condition was fine, she added. The institute has a total of 204 inmates, including orphans and those suffering from mental ailments.

Collector Singh said that a team of the district administration will keep an eye on the health of all the children of the shelter home for the next 48 hours.

The source of suspected food poisoning will be known only after receiving reports of the food and ration samples, he added.

A high-level committee of the administration is conducting a detailed probe into the running of the shelter home, the collector said.