114 jaundice cases reported since January 1

A total of 114 cases of jaundice have come to the fore at the Regional Hospital since January 1.

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While 33 cases pertain to those tested at Krishna lab (private) in the hospital, remaining 81 patients were tested at the hospital’s own lab. After a brief hike, the number of cases had declined, said Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Amit Ranjan, who added that merely 14 cases had been detected this month with the daily finding being zero to one since the last one week.

He observed that the situation was under control and the cases did not emerge from any particular cluster and were rather scattered with some being confined to neighbouring Sirmaur district.

With a significant decline in the cases, the Health Department has heaved a sigh of relief. What has come as an added relief is the fact that water samples of Ashwani river were found clear in the Pune-based National Immunology Lab. The Jal Shakti Department, which had temporarily suspended lifting of water from this scheme on January 22, and was awaiting water sampling reports, was relieved by this finding. Water for Solan city was lifted from the Giri potable water scheme, which had created a brief problem for the department. A sudden spurt in jaundice cases had set alarm bells ringing with 32 cases having been reported from Kather, Basal, and Chambaghat over a span of just 13 days in January.

With all habitations lacking sewage connectivity, the practice of letting out sewage into the water bodies at places like Lavighat continue to pose threat to the clean drinking water. Efforts to secure Rs 188 crore for linking the entire city to sewage scheme from the centrally-funded Namami Gange have failed to materialise leaving the Jal Shakti Department with no means to enhance sewage connectivity in the city and the threat of disease outburst continue to loom large, especially with scant rains.