Press Trust of India
Sambalpur, Dec 26: A three-member Central health team Friday visited Sambalpur to find out the cause behind the outbreak of jaundice in the city which has so far claimed 17 lives and taken an epidemic form.
So far 1,921 persons have been infected by jaundice in Sambalpur. The Central team included Dr P Verma, Dr Vidya Arankalle and Dr Manju. They met the district collector, Balwant Singh, deputy director of health department, Bikash Patnaik and the chief district medical officer, Jagatkrushna Samant Ray during the visit and discussed about the jaundice situation here.
They also gathered information about the jaundice outbreak. They also visited the water treatment plant of the city. “Contamination of water is the reason behind the disease. We will collect the water sample for test,” said team member Dr Arankalle, adding they would submit a report on the outbreak of the disease to the state government Saturday. She also said that they would study the past cases of Hepatitis-A and Hepatitis-E in Sambalpur. The team stressed on safe drinking water and personal hygiene, besides steps to curb open defecation. “Precaution is important to combat jaundice as there is no anti-viral treatment for the disease. The outbreak of jaundice is seen at such places which are polluted,” said Dr Arankalle.
“The measures being undertaken to combat jaundice here are satisfactory. However, it will take time for the improvement in the jaundice situation here as the incubation period of the disease is very long,” she said.