12 dead in W Singhbhum in mysterious viral attack
- Monday, 26 December 2011 22:00
- Parvinder Bhatia | Jamshedpur
At least a dozen people are dead while several others have fallen ill following the outbreak of a mysterious disease in several villages of Tonto block in the mineral-rich West Singhbhum district, about 40 km from the district headquarters, over the past week.
An unknown virus is tormenting residents for the past one month. A mysterious fever which causes drop in platelet count and gives rise to dengue-like symptoms is baffling doctors and heath officials. Tests performed on blood samples sent to National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, and School of Tropical Disease, Kolkata, have confirmed dengue and chikungunya. However, the health department is not ruling out possibilities of an unknown viral attack.
“This mysterious strain of virus must be identified. It is leading to drop in platelet and leukocyte counts but all test reports for dengue are showing negative results,” said a health department official. The district health department has announced steps to check the casualty rate but adequate steps haven’t been taken so far.
Deputy Commissioner K Srinivasan said senior officials of the health department are inquiring into the matter. “The administration learnt about the matter through media reports. Senior officials of health department are looking into the matter,” Srinivasan said. The DC, however, refused to speak on the apparent cause behind the casualties.
Earlier, officials at the district civil surgeon’s office said a medical team led by the district medical officer has been rushed to the block to provide adequate medical treatment to ailing villagers. A few villagers have been admitted to Chaibasa Sadar Hospital.
“A medical team is camping in the affected area distributing necessary medical help to affected villagers,” said an official, adding that more teams are likely to be sent to the affected block. However, the civil surgeon himself was not available for comments.
The administration has not concluded the exact cause behind the mysterious death of villagers. It has decided to send the sample of the contaminated water to the lab to ascertain the cause behind the casualties.
“Diarrhoea could be one reason, so the department has decided to send a sample of the contaminated pond water from the affected area to the lab for examination,” informed an official.
About five months ago, ten people died of diarrhoea in Kanskel village under Birkel panchayat limits in Gudri block of the district. “In 2009 it was swine flu and in 2010 it was dengue and this year we are confronting a viral fever outbreak. We are sure that the visit of an experts’ team will help us determine the nature of the new disease,” Swaran Singh said.
“I have never seen an outbreak of such a disease in my medical career spanning over three decades. While the number of dengue cases is rising everyday, this new virus which is yet to be identified has made things more complex,” UK Srivastava, a prominent city doctor, said.
The spread of the mysterious disease has become a cause of concern for the medical fraternity and for citizens. Doctors say that this unknown strain of virus causes a steep fall in leukocyte and thrombocyte counts in the body apart from a drop in the number of blood platelets. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/ranchi/30653-12-dead-in-w-singhbhum-in-mysterious-viral-attack.html
An unknown virus is tormenting residents for the past one month. A mysterious fever which causes drop in platelet count and gives rise to dengue-like symptoms is baffling doctors and heath officials. Tests performed on blood samples sent to National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, and School of Tropical Disease, Kolkata, have confirmed dengue and chikungunya. However, the health department is not ruling out possibilities of an unknown viral attack.
“This mysterious strain of virus must be identified. It is leading to drop in platelet and leukocyte counts but all test reports for dengue are showing negative results,” said a health department official. The district health department has announced steps to check the casualty rate but adequate steps haven’t been taken so far.
Deputy Commissioner K Srinivasan said senior officials of the health department are inquiring into the matter. “The administration learnt about the matter through media reports. Senior officials of health department are looking into the matter,” Srinivasan said. The DC, however, refused to speak on the apparent cause behind the casualties.
Earlier, officials at the district civil surgeon’s office said a medical team led by the district medical officer has been rushed to the block to provide adequate medical treatment to ailing villagers. A few villagers have been admitted to Chaibasa Sadar Hospital.
“A medical team is camping in the affected area distributing necessary medical help to affected villagers,” said an official, adding that more teams are likely to be sent to the affected block. However, the civil surgeon himself was not available for comments.
The administration has not concluded the exact cause behind the mysterious death of villagers. It has decided to send the sample of the contaminated water to the lab to ascertain the cause behind the casualties.
“Diarrhoea could be one reason, so the department has decided to send a sample of the contaminated pond water from the affected area to the lab for examination,” informed an official.
About five months ago, ten people died of diarrhoea in Kanskel village under Birkel panchayat limits in Gudri block of the district. “In 2009 it was swine flu and in 2010 it was dengue and this year we are confronting a viral fever outbreak. We are sure that the visit of an experts’ team will help us determine the nature of the new disease,” Swaran Singh said.
“I have never seen an outbreak of such a disease in my medical career spanning over three decades. While the number of dengue cases is rising everyday, this new virus which is yet to be identified has made things more complex,” UK Srivastava, a prominent city doctor, said.
The spread of the mysterious disease has become a cause of concern for the medical fraternity and for citizens. Doctors say that this unknown strain of virus causes a steep fall in leukocyte and thrombocyte counts in the body apart from a drop in the number of blood platelets. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/ranchi/30653-12-dead-in-w-singhbhum-in-mysterious-viral-attack.html
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