In Himachal, Jaundice Spreads to 10 Villages; 44 People Have Been Infected So Far
According to authorities, 44 persons may have diarrhoea as a result of the jaundice outbreak that hit 10 villages in the Himachal Pradesh district of Hamirpur. The impacted villages are part of the Kot, Sarahkad, Bharanang, and Khyah panchayats.
According to them, since the first case was recorded on June 26, the number of cases has risen. Jaundice has impacted 16 persons in Sarahkad panchayat so far, according to Poonam, the panchayat’s head. According to her, awareness is being raised regarding the disease’s symptoms and prevention.
The health department’s numerous teams are conducting screenings, and authorities predict that the number of cases will continue to climb. The majority of patients are being treated at home, which is a silver lining. The Jal Shakti department, however, said that testing of drinking water collected over the previous two days had not shown any pollution. We are currently awaiting the results of the patient blood samples the health department took.
Hemraj Bairwa, the deputy commissioner for Hamirpur, gave the department’s employees instructions to teach the field workers on how to properly utilise bleaching powder and chlorinate water bodies on Friday.
He also ordered them to investigate the viability of gaseous chlorination in the district’s drinking water systems and to set up a gaseous chlorination system for the Sarahkar-Kot area’s drinking water within 15 days.
Bairwa instructed the authorities to “explore opportunities for gaseous chlorination in other drinking water schemes of the district and move swiftly in this direction.” The deputy commissioner said that in addition to ASHA and community health workers, it may be possible to enlist the assistance of local panchayat public representatives to raise awareness.
He said that there need to be a sufficient supply of medications, other necessities, including chlorine tablets for treating water-borne illnesses in the area. In addition, he noted, drinking water should be regularly sampled and tested. Following the outbreak of water-borne infections in January, approximately 1,000 persons in 50 villages of the Nadaun subdivision of Hamirpur had diarrhoea.
