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Bengal

Jaundice breaks out in Baghajatin, 30 ill; KMC visits homes to collect water samples

Kolkata: Around 30 people residing in Vidyasagar Colony at Ganguly Bagan in Baghajatin has been affected with jaundice and some of them have been hospitalised.

There were reports of one or two cases in the middle of this month but the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) learnt about the outbreak only on Tuesday when local Left Front councillor Debasish Mukherjee wrote to Chief Municipal Officer of Health about the matter.

College student Minakshi Majumder, who is a resident of ward No. 99, was admitted to Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences in Sonarpur for ten days. He was released just two days ago. "I am still very weak and taking medicines prescribed by doctors. My bilirubin had gone up to seven. At present, it is three, which is still very high as the normal count is 0.4," Majumder said.

According to sources in the KMC, in a family more than one person is getting affected with this disease. "There have been cases from ward 99 and in ward 92. I have diagnosed some 10 odd patients with symptoms of Hepatitis A. I am advising all patients to drink boiled water," a doctor in the area said.

A team from the Health department of the KMC has visited the households where there have been cases of jaundice and have collected samples of water. People in the area buy water in jars and also depend on tubewells. In ward 92, there is a water ATM and a family in the area consume water collected from the machine.

"There is nothing to panic. The samples from all possible sources of water in the area have been collected and have been sent for test in the KMC laboratory," said Tapan Dasgupta, chairman of Borough X of KMC.

He alleged that the matter could have been addressed earlier if the local councillor was responsible enough to bring the matter into the notice of the KMC when there were one or two sporadic reports of jaundice.

Jaundice is a condition, in which the skin and whites of eyes turns yellow. It is caused when the body does not process the bilirubin properly. The disease occurs due to a problem in the liver.

Contaminated food and water and bad sanitary condition are responsible for the water-borne disease.

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