Nabarangpur: After a respite for two months, diarrhoea has again raised its head in Nandahandi block of Odisha’s Nabarangpur district.
At least 17 persons of B Maliguda village under the block have been hospitalised after complaining diarrhoea and vomiting in the last few days. The patients included 10 women and 7 men. While 13 of them are undergoing treatment in district headquarters hospital (DHH), two are availing treatment in their houses.
A medical team, headed by Dr Sushant Kumar Jena of community health centre (CHC) at Dangarbheja, has been camping in the village to monitor the situation on the direction of the district administration.
Confirming the spread of diarrhoea in B Maliguda, Dr Jena said, “All the patients belong to Dhoba Sahi in the village. We suspect that the disease might have spread due to consumption of polluted water. Our team has found several cracks in the pipeline supplying drinking water to the village. We have informed the department concerned for replacement of the water pipes.”
Stating that all precautions were being taken to check the spread of the water-borne disease, he said the Health officials accompanied by Anganwadi workers were carrying out awareness campaign among the villagers. They are informing the villagers about hygienic practices through public address system.
Besides, the team has collected samples from water sources like deep borewell, open well and household tanks and sent those to laboratory for test. Bleaching treatment has been rendered to water bodies and halogen tablets distributed among the villagers for disinfection of the private sources, Dr Jena said.
It may be noted that diarrhoea had claimed two lives and affected 17 persons in the block in July. At the time, the government had admitted that death of 8 persons in Rayagada district was due to cholera, spreading panic in southern districts.
