AIIMS, WHO teams roped in to probe Eluru mystery fever

AIIMS, WHO teams roped in to probe Eluru mystery fever

U.Sudhakarreddy@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad: 08.12.2020

City-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) scientists and those from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have been roped in to detect the cause of a mysterious sickness that has hit Eluru, leaving one dead and more than 450 in hospital. Blood samples from patients were sent to CCMB Hyderabad and AIIMS for tests. A central three-member team is arriving on Tuesday to probe the mystery sickness, and a WHO team is also looking into the case.

“We have received the blood samples of the patients from Eluru. Doctors have not yet been able to figure it out. We will explore any infection in the samples,” CCMB director Rakesh Mishra told TOI.

It began on Saturday with 45 people from four different localities in Eluru exhibiting symptoms not connected to any known disease. People complained of seizures, sudden loss of consciousness, frothing and shivering.

“If it is a bacteria or virus or fungus, we can find out and isolate the causative. It may take a few days as the process is complicated,” the CCMB director said, adding that it was unlikely to be due to mass hysteria. “Other than in infectious disease, people don't recover so quickly. It can’t be chemical contamination or excessive use of disinfectant, water or cyclic malaria fever. We can’t conclude without the tests,” he said. Andhra Pradesh health minister Alla Nani said that so far the illness had not spread from person to person. “People from other areas, where Eluru municipality water is not distributed, have also fallen ill. People who drink packaged drinking water daily also got sick. About 22 freshwater samples were tested and the reports were normal,” AP officials said.

IN THE DARK: Patients at the district hospital in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh