300 hospitalized for ‘mystery illness’ in Andhra Pradesh, India

Indian health officials are investigating a “mysterious illness” after hundreds of people were hospitalized over the weekend.

Authorities first noticed the illnesses on Saturday, when 45 people living in different areas showed up at hospitals and clinics suffering from the strange symptoms.

The patients were hospitalized after experiencing symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, while some suffered seizures and burning eyes.

Doctors said several hospital beds have been made available in Eluru, in the south-eastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, in case the unknown disease affects more people, according to the BBC.

At this stage, some 300 people have been hospitalized over the weekend and one person has died, according to The Times Of India.

It comes as India is battling its own coronavirus crisis, recording more than 36,000 new cases on Saturday. However, the various patients suffering from the mysterious disease were tested for Covid-19 and gave negative results.

“People who got sick, especially children, suddenly started vomiting after complaining of burning eyes,” a medical officer from Eluru Government Hospital told The Indian Express. “Some of them passed out or had seizures.”

Many of the patients admitted to the hospital were subsequently discharged.

Blood samples taken from the patients did not indicate a viral infection, according to the state’s Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas.

“We ruled out water or air pollution as the cause after officials visited the areas where people got sick,” he said. “It is a mysterious disease and only a laboratory analysis will reveal what it is.”

The opposition party, Telugu Desam Party, accused the government of having been “caught sleeping” during a health emergency and demanded an investigation of the situation.

The party suggested that water contamination could be behind the mysterious disease.