Over 140 diarrhoea cases were reported from Gurla village in Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh in the past two days and four persons were suspected to have succumbed to the disease. However, district officials said that the deaths were not because of diarrhoea but due to other health conditions.
“Those were not diarrhoea deaths according to the villagers and the deceased persons’ family members. It was due to other reasons. But there are diarrhoea cases in the village due to water contamination,” Vizianagaram district Collector BR Ambedkar told PTI on Wednesday.
According to the district medical and health officer (DM & HO), four persons died on Tuesday due to non-diarrhoea conditions such as septic shock, chronic kidney disease, cardiac arrest and acute excelbration of asthma. However, a source observed that these co-morbidities in the deceased persons were aggravated due to diarrhoea, leading to their deaths.
According to Ambedkar, 82 people were ill due to diarrhoea on Tuesday and underwent treatment to become stable, but half of them had returned to their homes, leading to the spread of the disease to other family members.
The collector observed that 42 more people contracted the disease and turned up for treatment on Wednesday and added that all of them are stable now. Ambedkar noted that diarrhoea is a contagious disease which can easily spread by using common washrooms.
Following these developments, he directed medical officials not to discharge the patients unless they recover completely while an intense sanitation drive across the village was taken up. Ambedkar highlighted that the houses of the affected persons are also being sanitised by panchayat officials.
Incidentally, water contamination has occurred in five private borewells, prompting the district administration to collect groundwater samples from across the village for analysis. As a precaution to arrest the disease spreading, Ambedkar said all the borewells and pipelines in the village were shut while the district administration is supplying chlorinated water to all households.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed sorrow over the ‘diarrhoea’ deaths in Vizianagaram and sought information on this incident and the current situation from officials.
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