ROURKELA: With an under-treatment patient Pranab Swain (50) succumbing at the Hi-Tech Medical College & Hospital (HTMCH) on Saturday night, the death toll in diarrhoea outbreak mounted to five in 48 hours at Rourkela, prompting a health team from the Sundargarh Government Medical College & Hospital (SGMCH) on Sunday to begin investigation from the epidemiological perspective.
Accompanied by Labour & ESI Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak and Sundargarh collector Parag Harshad Gavali, the team visited the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) and spoke to the patients. As of now, more than 200 patients are undergoing treatment at 11 hospitals in Rourkela.
Nayak said the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) is monitoring the situation and all precautionary measures have been taken along with the augmentation of treatment facilities. “Diarrhoea patients needing ICU care are getting shifted to HTMCH and JP Hospital even though the RGH is fully prepared with all treatment facilities and medicines,” the minister said. Health secretary Shalini Pandit with a state medical team is likely to reach Rourkela soon to take stock of the situation, he added.
The collector said a review meeting with the stakeholders including authorities of the RGH, Ispat General Hospital (IGH), WATCO and the district public health officer was held on Saturday. “The medical team from SGMCH is inquiring from an epidemiology angle and collecting the medical history of each patient, geographic spread of the disease, sources of their drinking water and food pattern to know the reason for the outbreak,” the collector said.
The treatment facility at RGH has been augmented, doctors mobilised from Sundargarh, and bed strength and diagnosis capacity increased besides ensuring the availability of medicines. If required, the state government would also provide doctors and rope in private hospitals, he assured.
A special team led by the Panposh sub-collector has been entrusted to check pipelines for breakage or leakage from supply points to homes to trace the possibility of water contamination.
Meanwhile, a diarrhoea patient of Simdega district in adjacent Jharkhand died at the RGH on Sunday morning, which was not counted as diarrhoea death from Rourkela.
RGH in-charge director Dr Sudharani Pradhan informed with an admission of about 20 new patients the RGH has 122 diarrhoea patients now, adding the bed strength of the ward has been increased to 120. Sundargarh MP Jual Oram also visited the patients on Sunday.