Eleven-month old Muhammad Rusyidi Rizky Amdin died yesterday – a month after his brother Muhammad Haris Haikal, two, succumbed to the disease on June 22.
Rusyidi’s mother Zalifah Hussin, 40, said she found the baby lifeless when she woke up to feed him about 2am yesterday.
He had been admitted at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar on June 21, along with his seven siblings, after suffering from fever, sore throat and breathing difficulties.
After Haris died, the others, including Rusyidi, were discharged with a clean bill of health only a few days ago, before the latter succumbed to the disease.
Rusyidi’s death marks the sixth fatality from diphtheria in the country, and the second in Kedah.
According to the Health Ministry, Kedah recorded the most number of cases (eight), followed by Negeri Sembilan (seven), Sabah (four with three deaths), Malacca (three with one death) and Penang (two cases).
Health ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had last week said that checks revealed that six patients contracted the disease despite having previously received vaccinations against it, while those who died, did not receive any vaccination or failed to complete the vaccination course.