Bengal: 78 hospitalised with diarrhoea symptoms in North 24 Parganas
As many as 78 people, including five children, have been hospitalised with symptoms of diarrhoea in neighbouring Kamarhati area of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, health department officials said. Two elderly patients also died of similar symptoms, but Deputy Health Secretary, Ajay Chakrabarty said their deaths were due to renal failure and not due to the diarrhoeal outbreak there.
Out of the 78 hospitalised at the College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital, the condition of six patients was stated to be "very critical", hospital authorities said.
Patients mostly from Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of Kamarhati Municipality have been diagnosed with symptoms of diarrhoea and hospitalised.
"There were at least nine persons who were brought to the hospital on Monday night. And today we are having a huge flow of patients with similar symptoms. We suspect that the infection is due to the water they have consumed," an official of the College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital said.
When contacted, Kamarhati Municipality coordinator Gopal Saha said that people have been asked to boil water before drinking.
"The disease seems to be water-borne. We have arranged water tanks for supplying water in the area. Water samples have been sent for examination and we have started miking to raise the awareness level of the residents here," Saha said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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