BHUBANESWAR: Amid efforts to contain the spread of diphtheria in southern districts, a central team arrived in Bhubaneswar on Friday to investigate the cause of the outbreak in the state that led to the death of six children.
The five-member team will visit Manuspadar village under Kashipur block in Rayagada on Saturday and take stock of the situation. The outbreak was first reported from Manuspadar and then spread to Koraput and Kalahandi districts.
As the state government is yet to figure out the cause of the outbreak, the team comprising a public health specialist from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and three officials from the National Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) is expected to ascertain how diphtheria cases occurred.
The team leader Dr Ashish Chakraborty held discussion with the state officials before leaving for Rayagada. Though there is no clear indication, malnutrition and incomplete immunisation are being suspected as reasons for the outbreak. “The central team will visit the affected villages in Rayagada and Koraput districts where the disease had surfaced and deaths reported. They will assess the situation and investigate if there is resistance to immunisation or some other reasons behind the outbreak,” said a health official who attended the meeting.
The state government has already formed a team to devise ways to ensure total immunisation coverage in the affected districts so that the vaccine-preventable diseases do not break out. While immunisation of all left out children in 18 villages, including Manuspadar under Kashipur block has been completed, vaccination is on in Koraput and Kalahandi districts.
Director of public health Dr Nilakantha Mishra said there has been no fresh case of diphtheria in last one week as efforts to contain the situation in districts were gaining ground through timely management of cases and getting children vaccinated against the disease.
The central team will debrief the state health department after their field visit and submit a report to the director general (health services) of MoHFW. They will also recommend measures to prevent further outbreaks.
Meanwhile, two more children from Koraput, including a five-year-old of Bikrampur village under Narayanpatna block died of suspected diphtheria. The children first complained of fever and later suffered from sore throat. They died while undergoing treatment.
Dr Mishra could not confirm the cause of death. “The children were brought to the hospital very late and the doctors could not save them. Whether it was diphtheria or the death was due to some other reason will be ascertained only after the test report is received,” he said.