By MONIQUE DEVEREUX
Medical researchers will review every recently reported illness in Dunedin as they trawl for clues to what caused three people to die with unexplained lung haemorrhages.
The hunt through hundreds of cases will take weeks to complete as researchers look for symptoms similar to those seen in Julie Millan,
Vincente Rawson and Robyn Campbell before they died.
The three Dunedin residents died within 10 days of each other last month. They did not know each other and there is nothing to connect them or their sudden deaths.
Professor David Skegg at Otago University's department of preventive medicine believes a link to the sudden deaths should not be ruled out - but says it may never be discovered.
Samples from those who died have been sent to the US to test "for all manner of things" but results will not be available for several weeks.
"Meanwhile, we will look for other cases that might be relevant, of people who perhaps didn't die but who have been ill," Professor Skegg said.
Only cases of illness in Dunedin will be reviewed.
Family and friends of the three people that died have been interviewed extensively by Professor Skegg's team but that has so far not revealed any link.
A Christchurch man admitted to hospital after coughing up blood several weeks ago has been ruled out as having any connection to the Dunedin deaths.
Otago medical officer of health Dr John Holmes said yesterday that the investigation into the deaths meant "all sorts of things are being looked at".
However, that had not stretched to checking if any animals in the area had died recently in similar circumstances.
"We are really testing the humans for things first, taking it from that point of view."
Dr Holmes said the investigation checked for links to diseases and infections known to cross into humans from animals.
