E-Paper
Two die of ‘jaundice’ in Tarn Taran village
Panic has gripped Poohla village, 20 km from here, as jaundice has claimed lives of two youths, while dozens others are said to be suffering from the disease.
Panic has gripped Poohla village, 20 km from here, as jaundice has claimed lives of two youths, while dozens others are said to be suffering from the disease.
Those who have succumbed to the disease include Buta Singh, 35, and Prabhjit Singh, 16. Meanwhile, around 40 persons are suspected to be suffering from the disease. However, according to the health officials only 18 are in its grip.
Raj Kaur, wife of Buta Singh, told that her entire family was suffering from the disease which has been caused by the contaminated water supplied by the government. Other villagers have also held the water responsible for the disease.
However, Narinder Singh, executive engineer of water supply department, maintained that they had not received any complaint in this regard.
In view of seriousness of the epidemic, the health department sent its team consisting of doctors, sanitation officers and multipurpose health workers to the affected village. The team collected the samples of the blood of 18 residents and distributed tablets of chlorine. They will also collect the blood samples of the villagers on Friday.
When contacted, Tarn Taran civil surgeon Dr Shamsher Singh said, “Nothing could be said as of now. Only diagnosis reports of 18 suspected patients, blood samples of which have been collected by the team on Thursday, will authenticate whether it is jaundice or any other disease.”
“On Friday, the team will make another visit to collect blood samples of the rest of the residents and also inspect the water pipelines and other places to know about the ailment that cause panic among the villagers,” he added.
Kanwar Harjot Singh, senior medical officer (SMO) of Sursingh civil hospital, said after consultation with Patti SDM Davinder Singh Bhatti, he would organise a free camp to do medical checkup of all the residents of the village.
