'Eluru disease' baffles all

Eluru: A strange illness, called 'Eluru disease', which had hit the town on Saturday continues to baffle the medical fraternity. So far nearly 450 people have been admitted to hospitals. While nine of them have been shifted to Vijayawada and five to Guntur for better treatment, one death was reported on Sunday.

According to doctors, water samples showed no contamination. Blood samples and CT scan reports have not been able to give any clue as the reports regarding all parameters were normal. They are also not sure if it is some unknown virus.

There are no industries around so it cannot be attributed to air pollution. Though the medical teams in the Eluru Hospital have been providing necessary medical attention to those who are getting admitted to the hospital and have come to the conclusion that it is not contagious, they are still awaiting reports from central agencies like IICT Hyderabad and Virology Institute Pune.

The possibility of contamination of vegetables due to excess use of pesticides is also being probed. Vegetable samples have been sent for tests.

Meanwhile, a central team will visit Eluru on Tuesday to investigate the reasons for this strange disease. According to an office memorandum issued by the Union Health Ministry on Monday, the team comprising Dr Jamshed Nayar, Associate Professor (Emergency Medicine), AIIMS, Dr Avinash Desohtawar, Virologist, NIV, Pune and Dr Sanket Kulkarni, Deputy Director, PH, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will reach Eluru on Tuesday to investigate the incident of sudden illness of people in an around Eluru.

It is suspected that poisonous organochlorine substances could be the likely cause of the disease. Meanwhile, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy visited the local Government hospital on Monday and interacted with the patients and attendants, assuring all help, and held a review meeting with officials on the incident. He directed the officials to be vigilant and ready to handle any situation.

He enquired about the treatment being given to the patients and the measures being taken for the control of the situation. Jagan said the observations of further analysis done by the teams of the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and Indian Council of Chemical Technology (IICT) along with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) should be taken into consideration.

The Chief Minister asked the doctors to monitor the health status of those who were discharged. He also directed that a high-ranking official of the Health Department should stay put to help the hospital authorities.