Diarrhoea claims 5 lives in Rourkela

Rourkela: Five persons died due to an outbreak of diarrhoea in Rourkela, a health official said on Sunday.

Till Sunday morning, five persons have died and more than 120 persons have been admitted to hospital due to the outbreak of diarrhoea in Rourkela in the last three days, said Chief District Medical and Public Health Officer (CDM & PHO), Sundargarh, Dharani Ranjan Satpathy. While two persons died on December 15, two deaths were reported on December 16 and another person died on Sunday, he said.

Every day, over 25 to 30 diarrhoea patients are being received at Rourkela Government Hospital, said Sudharani Pradhan, director in-charge of the hospital. She said the patients came in a very low condition and were in shock and did not respond to the treatment.

“We have not found any common source for the spread of diarrhoea. Our medicine specialist believes this could be a viral one,” Pradhan said. The disease has spread mostly in the slum and nearby areas to Rourkela including Chhend, Tarkera, Panposh, Nalla Road, Plant Site, Labour Tenement and Birjapalli. Meanwhile, the general manager, Water Corporation of Odisha (WATCO), Rourkela, Pratap Mohanty said, “We are on alert and formed three teams to attend to any complaint. We are going to each place to find any leakage in the water supply connections.” While diarrhoea cases have been reported from Panposh, Udit Nagar, Chhend and various other places here and the outskirts, microbiologists from Sundargarh on Saturday collected samples for testing. A two-member team from Bhubaneswar has also been sent to Rourkela to take stock of the situation and coordinate with the doctors and paramedics deployed for treatment of the diarrhoea patients. Rourkela Municipal Corporation Commissioner Subhankar Mohapatra had said that diarrhoea cases have been reported from the city area with no specific source point. The corporation has started sanitation and water purification in the affected areas and taking measures to prevent further outbreak.