Medical staff collect blood samples from 1,500 persons at Turakapalem

The Medical and Health Department officials collected samples from more than 1,500 individuals of the nearly 2,000 targeted residents at Turakapalem in Guntur district to prepare complete health profile, after the State government declared it a health emergency due to rise in death rates in the village.

“As of Monday (September 8, 2025), we collected samples from nearly 1,500 residents in the village to conduct 41 tests. 312 people from the village have migrated for various works, and we are tracing all of them and sending special teams to collect their samples. The samples are being taken from people aged above 18 years,” District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr. Korra Vijaya Lakshmi told The Hindu here. 

Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi further added that they had deployed 50 medical teams, with three members in each team, to gather samples from the villagers. She explained that the government will analyse the samples based on 41 parameters.  

Earlier, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu had instructed the Medical and Health Department to prepare a health profile of every individual in the village, after suspicion of Melioidosis and an abnormal increase in the death rate.  

The department had conducted the tests extensively on Saturday and Sunday and will find the missing and migrated persons in the village from Monday onwards. It was identified that more than 70 persons suffered from fever in the recent times and their samples were sent for culture tests. Complete Blood Profile (CBP) tests are being conducted on 22 parameters, while Bio-chemistry Tests are being conducted on 19 parameters.