A seven-year-old tribal girl has died and at least 52 people have been hospitalised after chloroquine tablets were administered during a malaria-control drive in Gollaguppa village in Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram district, officials said.

Madivi Jamuna, a Class 2 student, died after falling ill following the administration of the anti-malaria drug, according to district officials. The exact cause of her death has not yet been established and is being investigated, they said.

Health personnel from the Lakshmipuram Primary Health Centre administered chloroquine tablets to 71 people in the village on Tuesday as a preventive measure after at least five malaria cases were reported there, according to an official release from the state’s Public Relations Department.

Death and treatment details

District Collector K Dinesh Kumar said the girl reportedly took three tablets. After returning home on Tuesday evening, she vomited and became unconscious, he said. She was first taken to Lakshmipuram hospital and later shifted to Bhadrachalam Hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival, Kumar said.

According to Kumar, preliminary medical assessment suggested that Jamuna may have had an underlying hereditary or familial cardiac condition. Doctors suspected that chloroquine could have triggered cardiac arrhythmia in a person with such a pre-existing condition, although a definitive clinical conclusion is still awaited, he said.

Kumar also informed state health minister Y Satya Kumar about the girl’s family medical history. According to preliminary information gathered by doctors, two other children from her family, both below one year of age, had died earlier from unidentified causes, the collector said.

Her medical examination and post-mortem procedures are under way, and the exact cause of death will be established after reports are received, officials said.

Hospitalisations and response

In all, 54 people from Gollaguppa were taken to Bhadrachalam Area Hospital as a precautionary measure, Kumar said. Of them, 53 — 48 children and five adults — were undergoing treatment, while another 17 villagers were being monitored through a special medical camp, he said.

Other figures also circulated: the official release said 28 villagers, mostly children, had been shifted to Bhadrachalam Government Hospital and another 24 admitted to Lakshmipuram PHC. The district administration said the condition of those being treated was stable and out of danger.

The chloroquine tablets were distributed in age-appropriate doses in accordance with Medical and Health Department protocols, Kumar said, and quality-control tests conducted on the medication had returned satisfactory results. The specific batch used in the village has been sent to the Vizag Forensic Laboratory for analysis, he said.

Three special rapid-response medical teams from Kakinada, Rajamahendravaram and Vijayawada have arrived in Bhadrachalam, Kumar said. Three paediatricians have also been deployed to help with treatment and assessment, according to officials.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the incident with senior officials on Tuesday night and directed them to take all necessary medical and relief measures, officials said. He also ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Jamuna’s death and spoke with senior health department officials.

Medical teams are preparing health profiles of around 270 residents of Gollaguppa and conducting blood tests to check for sickle cell anaemia, other health conditions and comorbidities, Kumar said. The government has also arranged food for affected patients and their attendants at the hospital.

“The health condition of the patients currently undergoing treatment is stable. There is no need for people to panic,” Kumar said, urging residents not to worry. Most of those who recovered were expected to be discharged later on Wednesday, while those who tested positive for malaria would be kept under medical observation for another 24 hours, he added.