Balasore: Panic gripped Purubai Kanyashram managed by Gandhi Seva Sangh at Soro after five of its inmates reportedly tested positive for Japanese encephalitis (viral brain infection), Monday. While one of them has died, five are under treatment at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). The rest of the students have been admitted for treatment at the Soro Community Health Centre (CHC). The incident was earlier suspected as a case of food poisoning.
Sources said that the samples of 29 inmates of the private residential school undergoing treatment were sent for the test, out of which five samples tested positive for the disease. State Women and Child Development department and the child protection committee jointly operate the school.
Over 155 girls of Class-I to Class-X study in this school. Taking the matter seriously, the Health Department has shifted the five affected students along with two other inmates to the DHH. A special team led by the Public Health Director Dr Niranjan Mishra visited the spot and took stock of the situation, Sunday.
A fact-finding team of the district health department visited the Purubai Kanyashram and conducted a probe. The health condition of the affected is stated to be stable, sources informed. The matter came to the fore after 27 inmates experienced fever, stomachache, and headache after having their mid-day meals.
Among the girls, the condition of three deteriorated following which they were admitted to the Soro Hospital. They were shifted to the DHH and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after their health condition deteriorated further. However, one of the girls Rubina Singh, a native of Nilagiri area studying in Class-X succumbed to the disease during treatment.
On being apprised, a high-level team led by state Public Health Director Dr Niranjan Mishra and accompanied by a medical team reached the spot and conducted a health examination of the inmates. Meanwhile, Soro municipal authorities have started fogging and cleaning the drains in and outside of the Kanyshram. “Samples of 25 students were tested and reports of five students have come positive. They have been shifted to Balasore headquarters hospital.
Other students do not have symptoms, but they are under observation,” said Dr Sashank Sekhar Choudhury, SubDivisional Medical Officer (SDMO) who was in the fact-finding committee and visited the Kanyashram for the probe. It is also being examined whether any person is engaged in rearing pigs near the Kanyashram.
Notably, Japanese encephalitis is a viral brain infection that spreads by mosquito bites and belongs to the same genus as dengue, yellow fever, and West Nile viruses. It is also the main cause of viral encephalitis in many countries of Asia with an estimated 68,000 clinical cases every year.
