Hyderabad: Three-year-old Renuka has died of iron poisoning and her six-year-old sister Malleshwari is in a critical state at Niloufer Hospital. The two girls, who had been pla-ying in the fields in Mahaboobnagar while their parents were far-ming, suddenly took ill, began vomiting, and complained of severe abdominal pains on Saturday. They were taken to the local doctor who advised the parents to take them to Niloufer Hospital. Befo-re the doctors could identify what was wrong with them, the younger girl turned completely blue.
Blood tests revealed that the amount of iron in their blood was extremely high. A senior doctor at Niloufer Hospital said, “The blood reports indicated iron poisoning, which requires the administration of desferrioxamine as an antidote. Eight injections are required to control the poisoning.” Malleshwari began to recover after the first two injections. The doctors tried to trace the source of the iron by asking her what she had eaten recently. Dr P. S. Ramesh, a junior doctor, said, “The child said that she had consumed tablets that were lying in a garbage dum-p near the field. Malles-hwari had eaten three tablets and her younger sister Renuka ate six”
It was the tablets that caused the iron poisoning. D. Swaroopa Rani, a volunteer at the hospital, said, “The older girl had taken three tablets and was hence able to survive. Doctors tried to induce vomiting so that the effect of the tablets could be minimised, but that didn’t happen. An antidote was required to treat the poisoning which was finally able to source with the help of volunteers. She need six more shots to recover completely.”
