An illness that quickly turns deadly is claiming the lives of young patients in Cambodia. Doctors at the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital who regularly treat conditions like Dengue fever, malaria and tuberculosis say they've never seen anything like it.
A World Health Organization representative says many of the children died within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital. The sickness begins with a mild fever and then rapidly impairs the body. The speed of deterioration and other symptoms are baffling to medical experts.
An enterovirus associated with hand foot and mouth disease has been linked to some of the patients, but that's only one small clue and doctors aren't sure what it means. While parents try to maintain hope, medical experts are working to uncover a pattern and find more pieces to the puzzle.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta traveled to Cambodia and was granted access to the intensive care unit. See his report to learn more at 8 and 10 p.m ET on CNN.
Update: Watch Dr. Gupta's story below.
|
Filed under: 360° Radar • Cambodia • Dr. Sanjay Gupta • Medical News |
Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines to tell stories from many points of view, so you can make up your own mind about the news. Tune in weeknights at 8 and 10 ET on CNN.
Questions or comments? Send an email
Want to know more? Go behind the scenes with AC361°
There should be something we or medicine can do inmediatley, kids can not be dying at such a speed. I can not imagine those mothers who are at this moment at the hospital...it breaks my heart to see this report,
Hiw can we live these childrens without a chance to live?.where is the research and the drugs that can attack these kind of viruses?
hey,, somebody tell those WHO doctors in Cambodia, to talk to the WHO doctors in Vietnam,,that have been working on the Hand ,, foot, an mouth problems,there,, for the last 2 years
the kids are VietNam are still getting it, but they are not dieing anymore
You can read about it in Saigon daily news english edition,, health section
Hello,
This is so heartbreaking to hear that children are dying from a mysterious illness, in Cambodia. I feel for these children and their mothers/parents. I truly hope they will find a cure to help cure these children, so there will be no more children dying.
the same illness has been in Vietnam for the last 2 years, WHO has been in Vietnam working on the 1000s of cases there, the kids in Vietnam are not dying anymore