Gastro kills over 200 in 31 Nepali districts
31/10/2007 17:32
Gastroenteritis has claimed 207 lives in 31 Nepali districts this year,
The Rising Nepal newspaper reported today.
In the past six months, a total of
16,162 cases were registered in hospitals across the country.
The government
is planning to carry out operational research to find out the root cause behind
the rising diarrhea cases in some western districts where outbreaks have been
recurring for a long time.
Dr. Manas Kumar Banerjee, project coordinator of
Avian Influenza Control Project under the Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit
(EDCU), said the government started working from Monday to find out the causes
behind focal epidemic.
"As such cases have been recurring in Kalikot for a
long time, the main focus of the study will be in the area," Dr. Banerjee said.
EDCU under the Department of Health Services said 76 people died in Kalikot
alone in the last six months. Kalikot district is some 400 km west of capital
Kathmandu.
Director at the EDCU Dr. Laxmi Bikram Thapa said some cases of
cholera were recorded in Kathmandu and southern Nepali districts like Saptari,
Rautahat and Chitwan besides western Kalikot.
Dr. Banerjee said early
pre-monsoon and timely monsoon caused the large number of gastroenteritis focal
outbreak this year. He said the reason for the outbreak was bacterial
contamination of drinking water caused by flooding, landslide and
rainfall.
Dr. Banerjee said this time the diarrhea disease was seen in three
cycles and the first cycle appeared in Kathmandu in central Nepal, Kalikot in
the west, Rautahat and Saptari in the south, beginning from April and lasted
till June.
Kalikot, Humla in the west, Dhanusa, Mahottari, Rautahat and few
other Terai districts in the south were affected by the second cycle during
July-September.
The third cycle affected Sarlahi, Bara, Parsa and again in
Saptari districts all in the south.
"Such recurrences have posed a challenge
to the government. The cases have been spreading but it could be brought under
control if the people pay attention to their daily routines, sanitation and
drinking water," Dr. Banerjee said.
He said 80 to 90 percent of the problem
was due to contaminated drinking water and 10 to 20 percent cases due to the
consumption of bacterial contaminated food. He said more cases were reported in
the areas where there were no health professionals and in the community with
lower economic conditions.
In 2002, 16 districts were affected and 31 people
died out of 2, 723 cases due to gastroenteritis, 35 died out of 6,674 cases in
2003, 408 died out of 19,811 cases in 2004 and 37 died out of 2, 137 cases in
2005.
Xinhua
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