With water contamination and other evidence ruled out, medical teams are now targeting other chemical agents that could have caused the outbreak.
With a mysterious illness in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru puzzling health experts and the government alike, preliminary analysis of various test reports has all but established the role of organochlorine substances in the infection that has left one dead and more than 450 infected since Saturday. Multiple teams of experts from the country’s leading scientific institutions are determining the exact cause of the disease in the city of Eluru in Andhra Pradesh.
Organochlorine pesticides are chlorinated hydrocarbons used in agriculture and mosquito control. Compounds include dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
The disease, which first appeared in the One-Town area of Eluru city, has now spread to the adjacent rural areas of Eluru and Denduluru, although the number affected there was much lower. So far, 263 people have been discharged from the hospital after treatment, while another 171 have been admitted as inpatients. Another 17 patients were referred to hospitals in Vijayawada and Guntur for better medical care, according to official data.
After speaking with experts at AIIMS, New Delhi, BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao had initially suspected that poisonous organochlorine substances could be the most likely cause of the mysterious disease.
With water contamination ruled out as the cause of the spread of the disease, and also other tests that turned out normal, medical teams are now focusing on other chemical agents that could have caused the outbreak.
Expert teams from the National Institute of Nutrition and the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad arrived in Eluru on Monday and collected various samples for analysis. Water and milk samples were also sent to the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad to analyze the heavy metal content, sources from the Health and Medical Department said.
With all the incoming patients coming back negative for the coronavirus, authorities have breathed a sigh of relief.
At the request of the state government, a team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) in New Delhi as well as another team drawn up by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will arrive in Eluru on Tuesday “urgently visit “for a study and possibly determine the cause of the mysterious disease. A team from the Indian Council of Medical Research is also expected.
A team of doctors from the Mangalagiri Institute of Indian Medical Sciences (AIIMS) visited the hospital and collected blood samples from the patients for a full examination.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy visited the Government General Hospital on Monday and spoke with affected people, assuring them of help. Addressing a high-level review meeting later, he instructed officials to be on full alert and prepared to handle any situation.
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