Diarrhoea cases in Vijayawada go up to 102, no clarity yet on causes

The number of diarrhoea cases in New Rajarajeswaripeta of Vijayawada shot up to 102 on Thursday, with 23 cases confirmed on Wednesday, even as medical teams scurried to offer treatment to the affected people.

Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P. Narayana visited the affected area on Thursday morning. Dismissing news about deaths due to diarrhoea as ‘baseless’, the Minister urged the people not to panic, assuring them that the best care is being provided to the patients.

At the medical camp set up at the Care and Share V.M.C. School in New Rajarajeswaripeta, people kept trickling in with symptoms including stomach pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever and cough. Six beds, all of them occupied, were placed in the classroom-turned-camp.

A doctor treating the patients said people complaining of diarrhoea have had more than six such episodes. Two patients, resting on the bed, said they had 15 diarrhoeal episodes.

“Only those who are not stable even after preliminary medication are being referred to the Government General Hospital (GGH),” the duty doctor said. As of Thursday evening, according to information from the NTR district administration, 48 people are hospitalised. Children are being referred to the GGH directly.

One of the patients, B. Lakshmi, said all members of her family were sick with fever and stomach pain. While her brother had typhoid, she had loose stools and bouts of vomiting. Her father was being treated at the camp for stomach pain. She said neither did they eat any food from outside nor attend any function.

Along with ambulances, a ‘food safety on wheel’ vehicle was also stationed on the school campus where experts continued testing water samples on the spot for chemical analysis, chlorine and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) values.

No abnormalities have been reported so far, according to officials.

Reports of water samples, which have been sent to the Institute of Preventive Medicine to check for bacterial contamination, are expected in the next 48 hours. More samples were collected during the door-to-door survey and have been sent for testing.

While food poisoning was being stated as the reason for the present outbreak, some experts felt it could be something else, too.

“During our survey, we interacted with the residents. Some of those who had diarrhoea had attended functions held in connection with Ganesh idol immersion. But there are others who did not attend any function. If it were due to food poisoning, symptoms would have presented within six to 20 hours. As people continue to experience diarrhoea even after five days of idol immersion, there could be something else too,” said V. Srinivas, Assistant Food Controller, NTR and Krishna districts.

The official, however, added that it is too early to rule out any possible causes.

Meanwhile, residents said that they had been getting discoloured water for the past three weeks and no action had been taken to address the issue. Some said the water storage tank, from where municipal water is supplied to the neighbourhood, has not been cleaned in a year.

Satyavati, whose husband was admitted to a private hospital on Wednesday, said the water had a bad odour as well. Ten residents in three different lanes near the school said they had been receiving discoloured water. All of them said they did not attend any functions in the past five days.

“When we asked a person sitting near the tank if it was safe, he assured us that there was nothing wrong. We drank without boiling the water,” said Madhavi, another resident, holding a bucket of yellowish water. It was only after her school-going daughter fell sick that they began boiling the water. At present, all of them are being supplied drinking water through tankers.

Helpline

Response from the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is awaited. A control room has been set up at the Collectorate. Affected people can dial 91549 70454 for help.