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Another child dies of hepatitis-A in Kashmir village, 4 more infected
Health authorities said that for the past four days, two children -- a girl and now a boy -- in the age group of 7-8 years, suffering from the virus have died while four more were found infected after testing for the contagious virus, which affects the liver
Another child suffering from hepatitis-A in a village of south Kashmir’s Yaripora medical block in Kulgam died, taking the toll to two, while four more school children were found infected with the virus, Kashmir health officials said on Sunday.
Health authorities said that for the past four days, two children -- a girl and now a boy -- in the age group of 7-8 years, suffering from the virus have died while four more were found infected after testing for the contagious virus, which affects the liver.
Kulgam chief medical officer Dr Mohammad Rafi Dhobi said that all six children belong to a single school in Turk Tachloo village falling in revenue district Anantnag district but medical block Yaripora in Kulgam.
He said that they have started screening all the children of the school.
“Both the children were admitted to a hospital in Srinagar. While the girl died a few days ago, the boy also succumbed on Sunday. The boy had left the hospital against medical advice. We tracked him to his home two days back and sent him back to the hospital as he was very ill. However, he succumbed,” Dhobi said.
Panic gripped the people of the village on Friday following the death of the girl, prompting the health authorities to start a mass testing campaign.
Dhobi said that the admission of the girl and the boy to JVC hospital in Srinagar some two weeks back and their testing positive for hepatitis-A had triggered fear among people in the Turk Tachloo village.
He said that authorities had taken some 100 random samples of villagers all of which came negative, but a few samples taken from the school in the village tested positive.
“Only four have tested positive for hepatitis-A while the rest are negative. The four are stable and are under our surveillance,” he said.
He said that they are now concentrating on the school pupils.
“Our tests detected that all these children belong to a single school, and we have already started screening the children,” he said.
He said that hepatitis-A was caused by contaminated drinking water, and the public health engineering (PHE) department is checking if there is any contamination of the water supplies.
However, the school has been closed for the past three days but doctors say that the disease takes a month to develop. “That is why we are focusing on the children of the school,” he said.
CPI (M) leader MY Tarigami said, “Voicing deep concern over the outbreak of hepatitis-A in several villages of Kulgam that has claimed the life of two children in Turka Tachloo, Yaripora area. Appealing to @OfficeOfLGJandK to take all necessary steps to satve off the spread of the disease. Moreover, the affected areas must be provided with safe drinking water as the unfiltered water is suspected to be the cause of the disease.”
