Zirakpur: It’s diarrhoea, confirms Civil Surgeon

Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, September 13

Eighty-four new cases of patients with diarrhoea-like symptoms were reported from the Peermuchalla area in Zirakpur today. Twelve patients had been hospitalised, said the health authorities. With 84 new cases today and 138 yesterday, the case count has touched 222.

Ten water samples were collected from the affected areas, officials said. Sporadic cases were reported from Sector 20, Panchkula, today.

The Health Department took stool and blood samples of patients to ascertain the cause of the disease. Primarily, water contamination is said to be the cause of the outbreak.

The Mohali Civil Surgeon, Dr Adarshpal Kaur, said, “It’s a diarrhoea outbreak. The Health Department has set up a medical camp in Peermuchalla to give free medicines to patients. It seems there is a water contamination in three streets in the Peermuchalla area, adjoining Sector 20, Panchkula.”

Zirakpur Municipal Council officials said they were detecting leakages in the area, but had not received any complaint in this regard. They said it appeared that contamination was localised in some cases and might be due to leakage in individual water sources.

Meanwhile, bacterial contamination has been confirmed in the water samples taken from Trivedi Camp in Mubarikpur where three persons have died after complaining of fever and abdominal pain in the past one week. “Two of the four water samples have failed the laboratory test,” said Kaur.

Not the first time

• In June, 80 gastro cases reported from Kharar
• In July, a child died of diarrhoea in Abheypur in Panchkula
• In August, two persons died in Baltana due to cholera
• In Sept, three persons died in Trivedi Camp after complaining of fever, abdominal pain