Published 13:45 IST, December 9th 2020
On Eluru Mystery Illness, NIN collects samples; AIIMS final report expected by Saturday
As the cases of Eluru's mystery illness continue to drop, a team of Hyderabad's NIN collected blood, urine and other samples to analyse on Tuesday.
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As the cases of Eluru's mystery illness continue to drop, a nine-member team of Hyderabad's National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) visited the town to collect blood, urine and other samples to analyse and understand the unknown disease on Tuesday. The preliminary report of the samples will be out on Friday and the final report in the next week. A team from WHO has already arrived in Eluru to investigate further and manage the situation. On the other hand, the AIIMS team has presented a preliminary report to CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and is expected to submit the final report by Saturday.
Speaking about the situation in the Andhra Pradesh town on Tuesday, Eluru Government Hospital Superintendent Dr AVR Mohan had said, "The blood and urine samples of the patients have been collected and the preliminary report will come on Friday and final report in next week. We will start the treatment on the basis of the preliminary report. We will not say what is the reason of contamination.. maybe it is because of the water or food. The number of cases that are reported are gradually coming down. In the morning it was 123 now it is 77. The remaining cases on the bed at this point of time are 77 and we feel another 20 cases may be discharged by morning. So gradually the panic in the public is coming down. The incidents of cases are also coming down. And the severity of symptoms are also coming down."
"Heavy metals or organochlorine suspected"
The team from Hyderabad's NIN collected the blood and urine samples of the patients affected by the mystery illness on Tuesday along with the samples of water, milk, rice and vegetables from Andhra Pradesh's Eluru. According to the preliminary report submitted by the team from AIIMS, which included medical experts Dr Jamshed Nayar -- Associate Professor (Emergency Medicine) from AIIMS, Dr Avinash Deoshtawar -- Virologist, NIV PUNE and Dr Sanket Kulkarni -- Deputy Director, PH Expert from NCDC, Delhi, the cause of the Eluru mystery illness has been attributed to the presence of lead and nickel in the drinking water and milk in the region.
Speaking further about the investigation of Eluru's mystery illness, NIN scientist and team leader JJ Bau had said, "They (NIN team) have collected blood and urine samples of patients from hospitals. Later, they went to places in town where the cases have been developed. The team collected samples of water, milk, rice and vegetables. The team will leave for Hyderabad tonight and will analyse the samples at NIN Hyderabad tomorrow. Preliminary reports may come by Friday or Saturday, final analysis reports will take a max of 10 days time. If needed, the samples will be sent to Ahmadabad also."
On the other hand, NIN scientist Dr Sinha said, "Heavy metals or organochlorine is suspected to be a reason but this cannot be confirmed immediately."
More on Eluru mysterious illness
An unknown disease has begun spreading in Eluru in Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district affecting over 400 people including women and children since Sunday. Reportedly, people from the area suddenly started becoming unconscious after suffering from headaches, vomiting, giddiness and epilepsy-like symptoms. As of now, only one person has died due to the mystery illness in the Andhra Pradesh town. Most of the victims were said to be in the age group of 20-30 years while there were about 45 children below the age of 12 years, according to PTI.
Although, it is being said that anti-mosquito fogging may have caused the disease's spread but nothing has yet been confirmed officially. The cause is yet to be ascertained even after performing blood tests and CT (brain) scans while the reports of the Cerebral Spinal Fluid tests also turned out to be normal. Authorities are hoping the culture test rests might help in understanding the cause of the mysterious illness and the E-Coli results were also awaited.
(With inputs from ANI & PTI)
Updated 13:45 IST, December 9th 2020