A 45-year-old man died on Sunday and nearly 300 people have fallen ill in the town of Eluru in the Western Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh with complaints of dizziness and epilepsy since Saturday night. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy is scheduled to visit patients at Eluru Government Hospital on Monday around 10.30am. M. Will hold a meeting with hospital officials and a conference later.
Patients who flocked to the Eluru government hospital complained of symptoms of seizures, vomiting, dizziness and a severe headache, authorities said. The cause of the disease has not yet been determined.
This is what we know so far:
1. The 45-year-old man, identified as Sridhar from the Vidyanagar area of Eluru city, succumbed to the disease on Sunday night, family members said. He was admitted to the local government hospital in the morning with symptoms of epilepsy and dizziness in the morning.
2. According to doctors at the government hospital, Sridhar died of other symptoms, as he had recovered from the symptoms of epilepsy in the evening. Police have asked for an autopsy report on the deceased.
3. An update from health authorities Sunday night showed that the number of affected people crossed 285. Of these, 117 were discharged upon full recovery and about 30 are ready for discharge, authorities said Saturday .
4. Senior Deputy Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas said that five people have been transferred to the government hospital in Vijayawada and that many patients are also being treated in private hospitals.
5. The government stated that water samples from 22 affected areas showed no signs of contamination and that viral infections were not detected after blood tests were performed on all affected people. All patients were also tested for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and all reports were negative. Test results for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are expected Monday.
6. The Chief Deputy Minister has said that special attention is being paid to areas with such cases and that medical camps are being established there. A door-to-door survey is being conducted to monitor people’s health status, he also said.
7. The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) blamed the government for the illness of hundreds of people in Eluru. TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu noted that the health hazard took place in the Health Minister’s own electoral district, where people were not receiving protected drinking water for the past 18 months.
8. Naidu has also demanded a full investigation into the outbreak of the disease and the declaration of a health emergency in Eluru.
9. Officials said scientists from the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in Hyderabad would visit Eluru on Monday to study the situation.
10. BJP legislator GVL Narasimha Rao, who spoke with Chief Secretary of State Nilam Sawhney, said that a five-member team of doctors from the Institute of Indian Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Mangalagiri was sent to Eluru to treat to the patients. Rao said he spoke with the director of AIIMS in Delhi, Randeep Guleria, and other experts on the mysterious disease.
(With contributions from the agency)
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