Bhubaneswar: At least ten new cases of the deadly scrub typhus were detected in Odisha’s Sundargarh on Tuesday as the highly infectious disease seems to be spreading rapidly in several districts of the state.
With the detection of more cases, the scrub typhus tally in Sundargarh has now mounted to 193 so far this year, Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) of Sundargarh Dr Kanhucharan Nayak said.
As the disease continued to spread in several western Odisha districts, the Public Health directorate sent a special team to Bargarh and Sundargarh to take stock of the situation.
According to sources, a Joint Director and an epidemiologist have also been sent to Bargarh district to investigate the alleged death of five people after getting infected by scrub typhus.
Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said that another Joint Director has been sent to Sundargarh to take stock of the situation following rise in the number of scrub typhus cases in the district.
The CDMO of Sundargarh said that tests are being conducted daily since January, this year. Altogether 59 samples were tested in last 24 hours and 10 persons have been tested positive for the disease, taking the total number of scrub typhus patients to 193.
As the infectious disease continued to spread during rainy season, an awareness drive has been launched by doctors, nurses and ANM workers to sensitise people about the disease.
Meanwhile, a new study has reportedly found a high prevalence of the infection among children and high incidence of associated acute kidney injury among patients.
The pilot study conducted by Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Bhubaneswar, showed that around 40 per cent prevalence of scrub typhus among children with pyrexia of unknown origin and high incidence of associated acute kidney injury among patients having a history of acute fever in Keonjhar district.
At least seven fatalities have been reported due to scrub typhus in the state so far and the special teams sent by the Public Health directorate took steps to probe the deaths during their visit to Bargarh and Sundargarh districts.
