With two more deaths, jaundice toll reaches nine

BIRATNAGAR, MAY 11 - Two more persons died of jaundice in Biratnagar on Saturday, taking the death toll to nine from the outbreak over three weeks.

Health workers have raised widespread alarm after claiming that the infectious disease has started spreading rapidly in rural areas of Morang and adjoining districts. It is learnt that some of the people who have died of the disease are from Saptari and rural areas in Morang.

Meanwhile, the deceased of the latest outbreak have been identified as Sonu Kumar Sah, Jagadish Bohora, Ramji Prasad Regmi, Suraj Rai and Kishori Khatiwada, who are all from Biratnagar Sub Metropolitan City.

Bhupendra Rajbanshi of Rangeli, Sarita Satar of Hoklabari, Sri Prasad Rajbanshi of Jhurkiya and Bhudaruddin Miya of Saptari district also succumbed to the disease.

Nawaraj Subba, chief of the District Public Health Office (DPHO), said the disease has spread widely in rural areas of Morang, Saptari, Sunsari and Udayapur districts. Many of these jaundice patients are receiving treatment at health facilities in Biratnagar .

 “Looking at the deluge of patients from other districts, we can easily confirm the outbreak in other areas too. Therefore, awareness campaigns should be initiated in these places too,” he said.

According to Subba, a total of 1,163 jaundice patients have received treatment in government and private health facilities.

Sushil Pyakurel, director of the Eastern Regional Health Directorate, said that his office has put on alert all DPHOs in 16 eastern districts affected by the disease and asked them to inform the office if any jaundice patient has been deprived of treatment at the local-level.

Informing that a rapid response team has been mobilised in the districts to provide primary treatment to jaundice patients immediately, Pyakurel said that he has directed all health workers to raise awareness among the people about proper sanitation and drink purified or boiled water.

Dr Baburam Marasini, director of the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, whose team reached the affected areas in Biratnagar to take stock of the situation, said only sporadic instances of the outbreak have been witnessed in other districts.

He said that the outbreak in other areas was caused by consumption of contaminated water, calling for water in the affected areas to be tested immediately to check the spread of the disease.