Actor Vivek loses 13-year-old son to dengue, brain fever

amil actor Vivek's son Prasanna Kumar, 13, died in a city hospital on Thursday of complications arising out of dengue and brain fever. He was undergoing treatment at the hospital for more than a month. Sources at the SRM Institutes for Medical Science, Vadapalani, where the 13-year-old was admitted, said the cause of death was 'severe brain stem dysfunction, acute dengue hemorrhagic cerebellitis post infectious autoimmune encephalitis.' He was kept on and off ventilator throughout his hospitalisation. Initially he recovered from the illness, but suffered a relapse later and his condition worsened. Top Comment The actor brought happiness to our lives with his skills. This is the worst thing to happen to a parent, to see the suffering of own child and to see the child leave for the heavenly abode. May god g... Read MoreAnand Hariharan After more than 40 days of hospitalisation, Prasanna died in the hospital at 4.25pm on Thursday. His family received the body at 5.15pm and left for Vivek's hometown Tirunelveli where the final rites will be done at 3.30pm on Friday. Hospital sources said they have mentioned dengue and brain fever as causes of death in the certificate. Dengue is on the list of notifiable infectious diseases. Corporation officials, however, denied having received any report confirming dengue. "The boy was under treatment in the hospital for more than a month. He was suffering from a cerebral problem. If he had dengue, then an Eliza test should have been done. We do not have any information yet on dengue. We will get more information on Friday," a senior corporation official said. In a tragic irony, actor Vivek has been part of a government campaign to raise awareness on dengue.