SRINAGAR: Doctors at Government Medical College Rajouri will not discharge patients recovering from a mysterious illness until central health agencies confirm the toxic substance responsible for the illness that killed 17 people in Badhal village, J&K.
Principal GMC Rajouri Dr Amarjeet Singh Bhatia told this newspaper that all the 11 patients admitted in the patients are stable now.
“Of the 11 patients, we have stopped the atropine dosage of 9 while we have reduced the atropine dosage of two others. Eight patients have fully recovered,” he said. He, however, said the doctors in the hospital have decided against discharging the patients till a report from central agencies is received on what kind of toxin was there that caused the deaths.
“We have used atropine solution for the illness due to the hit and trial method but we don’t know what kind of toxin caused the illness. We don’t know whether it was simple organophosphorus or some other group or some other toxin. Without receiving the report on the toxins from health agencies, it will be dangerous to discharge the patients,” the GMC principal said.
According to him, some poisons cause deterioration in health conditions after 3 or 4 weeks “so we have to be extra cautious”.
“We cannot discharge the patients without knowing the exact diagnosis. When you don’t know the exact diagnosis what treatment will doctors give to patients at the time of discharge”.
Many teams of national health agencies have visited the village and collected samples for detailed analysis and investigation.
“We will wait for some more days to know from central health agencies what was the cause of the mysterious illness. This will help us prepare and deal with any such cases in future,” Dr Bhatia said, adding they have also informed the administration about their decision not to discharge the patients.
The doctors at the GMC after a comparative study had decided to use atropine, an anti-poison drug, to treat patients of mysterious illness and the drug has proved to be a game changer. It has not only stabilised the patients but they have also successfully recovered from the illness.There has been no fresh case of the mysterious illness since January 24.
The mysterious deaths in Badhal village started on December 7, 2024. On December 7, four children and the head of a family died while on December 12, a woman and three children of another family died. On January 9, Mohammad Aslam’s six children fell ill and all of them have died since. His maternal uncle and aunt who lived with him also died. All the three families are related.
The mysterious deaths had caused fear in the village. About 364 residents of 87 families of Badhal village have been relocated and moved to government accommodations for quarantine in the district headquarters of Rajouri after the administration last week declared the village as a containment zone.
The administration is taking care of the loding and boarding facilities of all the relocated population. The meals are prepared in kitchens under CCTV surveillance, with food samples sent for testing at NFL Ghaziabad and Patoli Food Testing Lab, Jammu.