Mumbai prison inmates fall ill: Doctors await test reports to determine cause

Doctors don’t know what caused vomiting, diarrhoea and nausea in 85 women inmates of Byculla Jail who were admitted to JJ Hospital on Friday

Doctors are yet to establish what caused vomiting, diarrhoea and nausea in 85 women inmates of Byculla Jail who were admitted to Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy (JJ) Group of Hospitals on Friday. Those hospitalised include two pregnant women. A four-month-old child has also been admitted.

A total of 85 women inmates, one man inmate, and one child of an inmate have been admitted to JJ Hospital. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

While 81 women were admitted to the hospital on Friday morning, three more were rushed later during the day.

“The patients started facing the issue from yesterday night and were treated by prison doctors overnight. However, as the complications persisted, they started coming to Sir JJ Hospital starting 9.40am. By 1.30pm, 81 women and a child were admitted in two departments of medicine ward,” said Dr Mukund Tayade, dean of Sir JJ Hospital.

Dr Tayade added that over 30-35 resident doctors are deputed for the treatment and care of the inmates who are closely being observed for any change in health conditions.

Doctors said a monsoon-related bacterial infection may have caused the incident and have ruled out the possibility of the patients suffering from a reaction to an anti-cholera drug that was given to inmates of Byculla Jail on Thursday evening.

The anti-cholera drug was given to inmates of Byculla Jail as a preventive dose after five inmates were shifted to JJ Hospital on July 15 and one of them was diagnosed with cholera.

All 87 patients, including the male inmate, are currently in a stable condition and will be kept under observation for over 48 hours. “Police officials told us that the child was suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting during night but he hasn’t passed any runny stool since the time of his admission. He is doing fine and is exclusively breast-fed since his mother is also admitted,” said Dr Bela Verma, head of the department of paediatric medicine.

Officials from the food and drug administration (FDA) and civic officials have collected food and water samples, respectively. “We will try and complete the analysis as soon as possible,” said Pallavi Darade, FDA commissioner.

A complete blood count (CBC), creatinine test, liver function test and urea levels with the help of blood, stool and urine samples of the patients will be helpful to diagnose if the inmates are suffering from a bacterial infection from food, water or both. Results of the patients’ medical tests are expected on Saturday morning.