Doctors blame contamination of water after rise in cholera figures
Times of India | 5 July 2024
Kolkata: With the onset of rains, cases of cholera — another monsoon-season ailment — are being reported from different city hospitals.
On Thursday, a team from ICMR-National Institute For Research in Bacterial Infections, formerly known as ICMR-NICED, visited a locality in Baguiati to collect water samples in the area and investigate if there’s any contamination.
The move was prompted by the detection of cholera in a patient from the locality who was undergoing treatment at Infectious Diseases and Beliaghata General Hospital. While the 35-year-old patient, who was admitted on Sunday with severe symptoms of the infection, was discharged on Thursday, his mother was admitted in the same hospital as she is suffering from cholera symptoms. Tests are being conducted to confirm the cause of the diarrhoea she is suffering from.
Health officials said the 35-year-old patient is a resident of Jyangra in Baguiati that falls under the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. Surveillance is on to find out if any other patient is suffering from similar symptoms.
“There is no cholera outbreak. A few cases that have been reported to us seem to be stray ones. But we are keeping a vigil for any clustering of cases,” said a senior health department official.
A few private hospitals, too, have reported cases of cholera. Fortis Hospital has treated around six patients in the past few weeks while two are still undergoing treatment. “We have observed a concerning rise in water-borne diseases in recent weeks. The cases of cholera we have got are predominantly of males aged 45-60 years,” said Doli Biswas, chief nursing officer, Fortis Hospital, Anandapur.
A contagious disease where contaminated water is the main source of infection, symptoms for cholera include very high fever, watery stool and severe dehydration.
“Due to significant water loss through the stool, cholera can lead to severe dehydration, which may cause kidney failure in severe cases. Preventive measures include staying hydrated, isolating the patient and administering antibiotics. Since cholera patients often feel nauseous and have a reduced appetite, we ensure they drink sufficient water and provide them with soft, easily digestible food,” said internal medicine specialist of Fortis, Joydeep Ghosh.
Sources at Medical College Hospital Kolkata said they were getting a few prolonged diarrhoeal cases in children but are yet to identify if they are cases of cholera.
“We treated an 11-year-old girl for cholera. She was discharged last Saturday after she recovered. The girl was from Barrackpore,” said paediatrician Sanjukta De of Peerless Hospital. In fact, the lab at Peerless has detected around three cholera cases in past four weeks, said microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhuri. “Cases tend to increase during monsoon. It’s transmitted through contaminated water, food and drinks,” he added.