Jaundice spreads in Kangra

Our Correspondent

Kangra, December 19

Kangra is in the grip of jaundice. Health authorities have identified 55 patients which included children below the age group of 15.

The Health Department has asked the IPH authorities to chlorinate water sources immediately before it spreads further.

Dr RK Sood, Kangra District Epidemiologist and District Surveillance Officer, said the disease started from ward 1 and 3 of the old Kangra locality. He supervised the houses in the area. He said 3,000 residents were examined and 55 were detected which included 37 children.

He said the patients were detected from Old Kangra, Guptganga, Tehsil Chowk, Ronkhar, surrounding areas of Polytechnic College, Kangra, and the SDM Complex. He said contaminated water in old Kangra locality was the source of the problem. He said water samples were being tested.

He said out of 55 patients, 26 were detected during the house-to-house search while 29 had reported in different hospitals. He said directions were issued to all field staff to improve and strengthen the surveillance, besides to get water sources chlorinated. He said a joint team of the Health Department, the ICDS and IPH departments had been formulated to combat the epidemic.

Sood said the incubation period of the disease was up to 20 days. He said super chlorination had been started, however, people affected before super chlorination would continue to develop symptoms for another two weeks.

Chief Medical Officer Dr BM Gupta told IPH officials to do super chlorination of water sources.

Anil Kumar, a resident of old Kangra, said his son Sanskar, a Class VIII student, started losing appetite followed by vomiting when he took some food. He said he was taken to the Civil Hospital here where doctors diagnosed him with jaundice.

He said there were other children too in the old Kangra who had same symptoms and were diagnosed with jaundice.