4 died, 24 fell ill after drinking contaminated water at govt hospital in Gadwal
Jul 09, 2022
Gadwal (Telangana) [India], July 9 : As many as four died and 24 fell ill within one week at the Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana after the victims got admitted to the Gadwal Government hospital for purportedly drinking contaminated water from their residences in Gadwal.
Kishore Kumar, Superintendent of the Gadwal District Hospital said on Saturday that out of the 24 persons that fell ill, 15 were adults and nine were children who reported cases of stomach flu, vomiting, and motion complications. Most of the cases have been reported from Gadwal town.
"We have gastroenteritis (stomach flu) cases, vomiting and motions' cases where 15 adults and nine children have been admitted. All are stable. This is a seasonal disease, so when it rains initially, drinking contaminated water may result in this problem," he said.
Kumar further added that boiling the water will solve this problem.
The patients have been admitted to the hospital, and their health condition is stable and out of danger, the doctor said.
Another doctor said that it is a gastroenteritis (GE) outbreak, and after investigating the primary sources, contaminated water is most likely the reason for the reported infections.
"We have informed the municipality departments. Cases have been admitted in both government and private hospitals, and we are monitoring everything," she said.
She also told ANI that two people, Narsingamma and Sri Kala Krishna, died on Friday. Their cases were so severe that the patients had to be sent to the neighboring cities of Kurnool.
Ranjan Rathan Kumar, the Superintendent of Police in Nalgonda, ruled out water contamination as the reason for four deaths, claiming that they died due to their personal hygiene problems, and not due to contaminated water.
He said three cases of the 'seasonal disease' were reported a week ago, and the matter is being probed.
After the local engineers and doctors examined the samples, he said that no faults were found in the water and the infections reported were solely due to seasonal complications and personal hygiene.
No complaint has been registered against water contamination so far, he added.
"The victims were admitted to a local Gadwal hospital. Some were taken to Hyderabad and Kurnool. So far, we received information that four people died. However, there is no water contamination. The infections could be due to personal hygienic problems. So far, we have received no complaint," Kumar said.
