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Central team begins probe into Udhampur deaths
The Union ministry had on Saturday said that it would soon send a high-level team of experts to J&K to investigate pediatric deaths due to unknown etiology, being reported from Ramnagar of Udhampur district.
Three members of the five-member team of experts of the Union ministry of health and family welfare from Delhi reached Udhampur on Sunday, after 10 children died of an unknown disease and six others took ill in a span of 15 days in Ramnagar tehsil here, a senior official said.
“Three members of the [central] team from Delhi reached Udhampur today [Sunday]. They have started seeking all the angles from state and district level health teams, which are camping in the affected villages of Ramnagar tehsil,” said Udhampur deputy commissioner Dr Piyush Singla. He informed that remaining two members of the team will reach Udhampur on Monday.
“The three members of the team on Sunday collected samples from over 25 chemist shops from where the children were given medicines and injections. The 10 children, who belonged to over a dozen villages in a radius of over 30 kms in Ramnagar, were either attended by local quacks or medical assistants,” said an official.
The Union ministry had on Saturday said that it would soon send a high-level team of experts to J&K to investigate pediatric deaths due to unknown etiology, being reported from Ramnagar of Udhampur district.
The team will assist J&K Health Department to investigate the cause of pediatric deaths and instituting requisite public health measures. The team, upon completion of their activities, will submit a report to Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) , an official statement said.
The visiting team comprises Dr Sumit Mehndiratta, Specialist (Pediatrics) Safdarjung Hospital; Dr Mahesh Waghmare, Deputy Director (Microbiology), National Center for Disease Control, Delhi; Dr Suneet Kaur, Assistant Director( Epidemiology) National Center for Disease Control, Delhi; Dr Shilpa Tomar, Microbiologist, NIV, Pune and Dr Avinash Deoshatwar, Epidemiologist- NIV- Pune.
Chief medical officer of Udhampur district, Dr KC Dogra had on Saturday said, “Ten children between the age group of two months to six years have died in the past over a fortnight and six others have taken ill. Out of six children, four have been hospitalised in PGI Chandigarh, one each in Ludhiana and SMGS Hospital in Jammu. It is a matter of serious concern for us. We have issued an advisory to the people asking them not to panic and rush their children in the wake of any symptoms to the qualified paediatricans in hospitals.”
The CMO informed that the children contracting the disease develop symptoms of fever, cold and they also vomit eventually leading to their renal failure. “There are around 10 to 15 villages in a radius of 30 kms in Ramnagar tehsil where the children are getting ill to this undiagnosed disease,” he had said.
He had informed that various teams of doctors were camping in the affected area to ascertain the cause of the fatal disease.
“Even the doctors at PGI Chandigarh, who conducted autopsy of one of the affected children from Ramnagar, have not been to reach any conclusion as yet. We have lifted samples of water, drugs given to the children by local quacks and food etc. Teams of doctors from Jammu and Udhampur and block level are camping in the affected area and we are trying to ascertain the cause of the disease,” Dr Dogra had said on Saturday.
