AIIMS says virus or pesticide may’ve landed over 500 in hospital in Andhra

AIIMS says virus or pesticide may’ve landed over 500 in hospital in Andhra

Samdani.MN@timesgroup.com

Amaravati   09.12.2020

The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said on Tuesday that water contaminated by a virus or pesticide might have triggered the “mystery” disease in Eluru town, even as a leading private lab in Vijayawada found high levels of pesticides, including DDT, in the drinking water.

A separate report by AIIMS Mangalagiri showed high levels of lead and nickel in the blood samples collected from patients.

A team comprising experts from AIIMS Delhi, National Institute of Virology, Pune, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, and National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, is zeroing in on the causative agent — a pesticide or virus, or a combination of both — that led to the hospitalisation of about 500 people in the last three days.

The mysterious sicknesses began on December 6 when a number of people were hospitalised with symptoms that resembled those of epilepsy. More cases were reported from other parts of Eluru and nearby areas.

Eluru is served by two irrigation canals that are interlinked. While one canal originates in Rajahmundry, another takes birth in Vijayawada. Pesticides and fertilisers used by farmers en route are dumped into these canals, which serve as drinking water sources for thousands of villages as well as Eluru city.

The expert team will collect samples from patients and send them to NIV Pune and other laboratories to find out why people were suffering sudden seizures.

Earlier, AIIMS (Mangalagiri) medical superintendent Rakesh Kakkar visited Eluru on Sunday and studied the case sheets of the patients and analysed possible reasons for the sudden illness. Patients exhibited seizures, convulsions, vomiting, foaming and tremors.

The AIIMS team found that a majority of the cases were reported from areas which have common sources of drinking water supply from Pumpula Cheruvu supplied by Eluru municipal corporation.

“Most of the 20 patients interviewed said there was a change in the colour and taste of the water. Some reported that there was a greenish/muddy discolouration of the household water supply,” AIIMS said in its preliminary report to the state government.

“Water/food contamination with virus or heavy metals or organo-compounds could be a suspected cause of the outbreak,” the AIIMS report concluded.

The mysterious sickness in Eluru town began on December 6 when a number of people were hospitalised with symptoms that resembled those of epilepsy