Mysuru: Health Minister Shivanand Patil said it is now clear that the prasada served at Kichuguththi Maramma temple at Sulavadi, in Chamarajangar district on Friday was laced with poison and led to the death of 13 while 91 others fell ill.
However, the toxicology report on what chemical compound was mixed with the prasada is awaited though the chemical composition is suspected to be organo phosphorous, he said. Many symptoms displayed by patients treated at Apollo hospital in Mysuru have indicated the presence of organo phosphorous components in the prasada they consumed, said Dr Sajeeva Rao Girimaji, consultant physician, who is presently treating 12 patients at Apollo hospital.
He said, “The patients had the symptoms of poisoning which include vomiting, loose motion, excessive sweating, low BP and abdominal pain." He added, “Symptoms in some of the patients indicated organo phosphorous poisoning, which leads to excessive secretion in the mouth and throat, 'pinpoint' pupils (very small pupils), and low heart rate. Also the level of pesuodo coline esterase enzyme which helps nerves function, is supposed to be 3,000 but fell as poison entered the blood stream. And due to this, many patients developed muscle weakness and needed ventilator support,” Dr Girimaji said.
He added, "While the poison usually gets absorbed in fat, it gets re-secreted in the blood and stomach in the following days and again gets reabsorbed in the blood. And the patients whose immunity is low including those who are on ventilator support, may even develop secondary infections. Hence they need to be monitored for at least five days,” he said.
Hanur MLA Mr Narendra said that when some people sensed an abnormal smell in the prasada which felt like that of camphor or kerosene, a few stopped eating it but others continued eating as they were fearful of throwing away the prasada of God, he said. Health minister Mr Patil said that the government will provide treatment and monitor patients for 15 days until they get stabilised.
