Palghar: A seven-year-old student died at an ashram school in Palghar district’s Maswan on Monday, while 26 other students were hospitalised after developing symptoms such as fever and cough, raising concerns of a possible outbreak of an infectious disease.The death came barely a fortnight after three girls died of a snakebite at an ashram school in Gadchiroli district. The school has since lost its licence.The Palghar student who died, Shreyas Ambat, had been suffering from fever for two days. He attended school on Monday but his condition suddenly deteriorated and he developed breathing difficulty. He died while being taken to hospital, officials said.The ashram school has around 400 students. Health authorities screened students and admitted 26 who showed symptoms such as fever, body ache and cough to the primary healthcare centre as a precautionary measure. Their blood samples were sent to a laboratory for further testing.Dahanu tribal development project officer Vishal Khatri said the exact cause of Shreyas’s death would be known after the postmortem examination. “The students who have been hospitalised will be kept under observation for two days.”Palghar medical officer Dr Umesh Dumpalwar said preventive measures had been initiated in view of the possibility of an infectious disease outbreak.
