Over 200 people in the Eluru town of Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district have fallen ill with symptoms such as nausea and fainting, according to several news reports.
Official suspected water contamination to have caused the disease with "epilepsy-type symptoms" but the confirmation was awaited, said the reports.
According to the Indian Express, the 227 people who fell sick include several children and belong to four societies of Ashok Nagar and Arundhatipet in Eluru town, where a case of contamination of drinking water was reported 10 days ago.
According to a report in The Hindu, as many as 170 persons were admitted to the Government General Hospital (GGH) in the town till Sunday morning and some are also being treated at various private hospitals.
According to a report in The Times of India, 70 patients have been discharged thus far, while 76 women and 46 children are being treated at different hospitals.
A report in The New Indian Express quoted Eluru Government Hospital superintendent Mohan Rao as saying that all the patients were being given emergency medical treatment and 80 percent of them were stable.
The affected persons were admitted after suffering from convulsions and mild headaches and some also fainted after vomiting, the official told the newspaper. "Some of them had bone dislocations and muscular pains,” he said and added that epidemiology and microbiology experts from Vijayawada were coming to Eluru to determine the cause of the illness.
The affected persons also recover all of a sudden but again present with the same symptoms, the Times of India report quoted district medical and health officer K Sunanda as saying. The official, however, said that there is no threat to any of them.
“Water, food and blood samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and the reports are awaited. CT scan and X-ray reports are normal,” doctors speaking on condition of anonymity told The Hindu.
Andhra Pradesh health minister A Kali Krishna Srinivas visited the hospital on Sunday, as per The Times of India. He said the patients have tested negative for COVID-19.
As per the New Indian Express report, the minister said that the results of the blood samples came back negative. He maintained that there was no contamination of water supplied in the city and said the results of culture sensitive test were pending
As per a report in The New Indian Express, the minister said that health camps were organised in South Street, East Street, Arundhati Pet and other areas in Elur and a door-to-door survey is also being conducted to identify more unreported cases.
Five persons have been sent to Vijaywadaas and their condition was serious, the health minister said, and added that additional beds were also readied at the Ashram Hospital and in the Vijayawada Government hospital as a precautionary measure. About 108 emergency medical vehicles were kept on standby, the minister further stated.
Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu hit out at the ruling YSRCP and demanded an " impartial, full-fledged inquiry" into the incident.
"The Eluru incident is just the tip of an iceberg. The government's negligence and the deterioration of healthcare services across Andhra Pradesh stands exposed today. It's a shame for any government if it can't provide basic necessities like safe and clean drinking water to our people," he said.
Can there be a more unfortunate & bigger failure than this? The Eluru water contamination incident calls for a declaration of Health Emergency in Andhra Pradesh. Enough. (2/3)
— N Chandrababu Naidu #StayHomeSaveLives (@ncbn) December 6, 2020
Andhra Pradesh governor Biswa Bhushan Harichandran also expressed concern over the situation in Eluru, adding that he has directed officials to expeditiously provide medical treatment to affected persons and to find out the reason behind people falling ill.
Directed officials of local administration, medical & health department to find out reasons behind such large number of people suddenly falling ill and take experts advice to resolve issue and create awareness on precautions to prevent such incidents from happening again.
— Biswa Bhusan Harichandan (@BiswabhusanHC) December 6, 2020
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/36PiiOh
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