Water samples taken to be tested for cyanide and heavy metals in the wake of the mysterious deaths of two young Kako brothers have returned negative, but retesting is to be done after concerns were raised about the handling of the samples.
Blood samples taken have also returned negative. However, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Boyle expressed that a lack of specialized containers to store the water samples may have affected the results.
The doctor related that water samples were sent to the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) to be tested, but she was uncertain of the methods used by the institution and its capacity for testing.
She also noted that at the time testing was carried out, the facility was not equipped with the correct containers, explaining that materials like plastics tend to absorb chemicals such as cyanide.
Given this fact, those test results are being treated as preliminary and once the adequate equipment is acquired, samples will be taken again for testing.
Boyle stated that five or six water samples were taken from various locations in the region, including the river where residents access water, the point at which the Mazaruni and Kako rivers merge and mix, and the creek near a mining camp where the boys reportedly went swimming and hunting shortly before they fell ill.
The doctor stated that consultations were held with the Guyana Water Inc to determine the best method of attaining the samples.
Blood samples collected were also sent overseas to be tested for cyanide and heavy metals, but those too returned negative results.
Two Kako brothers, 11 years old and nine years old, passed away within a month of each other.
The 11-year-old succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital last week after spending weeks braindead in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
The nine-year-old brother had died on November 13 and while initial reports had suggested meningitis, Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton, during a press conference on Monday last, stated that it was in fact the result of brain damage.
Evidence of malaria was found in the younger child, as well as swelling of the brain and haemorrhagic bronchopneumonia. Norton had further stated that the symptoms displayed by the boys pointed to toxicity.
