Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : December 8, 2020 11:10 AM IST
Officials are collecting samples from the places from where the patients procured vegetables.
Health officials are yet to find out the cause of the mysterious illness reported in Eluru in West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, the number of people affected by the unknown illness has shot up to 455. Sources told IANS that cases started rising from Friday night and spiked on Saturday, reaching 455 by Monday night. Out of which 263 have been discharged and 174 persons are undergoing treatment.
According to IANS reports, the patients were hospitalised with symptoms resembling epilepsy. They complained of 3 to 5 minutes of epileptic fits without repetition, forgetfulness, anxiety, vomiting, headache, and back pain. Majority of the affected people were elderly and children.
Blood samples of the patients were tested for viral infections, including Covid-19, all of them tested negative. Health officials have also ruled out contamination of water and milk for the mysterious illness after sample testing. Now, they are collecting vegetables samples from 20 affected places for testing.
"We are collecting vegetables samples from top 20 places. Cases are being reported in the entire Municipal Corporation area," Himanshu Shukla, West Godavari Joint District Collector told the news agency.
In the meantime, urine and blood samples of the affected persons are also being tested.
According to Shukla, they are getting support from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), National Institute of Virology, National Centre for Disease Control, Indian Council for Medical Research as well as the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Teams of up to six experts from all these leading institutions are toiling to identify the cause of the mysterious disease, he said.
However, a source in Eluru told IANS that the mysterious illness cases had been reported in Andhra hospitals now and then for the past fortnight. He also advised that the affected people should be given a fortified diet.
"Doctors thought that it was epilepsy (fits) and gave relevant treatment and sent away patients. But now Andhra hospitals have been instructed not to admit patients," the agency quoted the source as saying.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy visited Eluru government hospital and interacted with almost all the patients admitted there for treatment on Monday.
The CM later instructed officials and ministers dealing with the mysterious illness to take the observations of some reputed institutes for further analysis.
He also directed the health department officials to follow the discharged patients for a month to monitor their health. Further the health minister and senior officials were instructed to stay put in Eluru to monitor the situation on an hourly basis.
During a review meeting with officials at the Zilla Parishad office in Eluru, the chief minister was informed that drinking water and blood samples of patients were found to be normal.
Blood samples tested for Hb, CBP, LFT, RFT and GRBS were normal. All samples reported negative for viral markers for IgM ELISA, chikungunya, dengue, and HSV-2. The CT scan reports were also normal the officials said.
Cases of the mystery disease were reported from Eluru rural, urban and Dendaluru in all age groups, they said.
