KARACHI: Over 100 gastro cases being reported at hospitals daily
KARACHI, May 25: More than 100 patients of water-borne diseases are being provided treatment every day at major government hospitals in the city, according to a survey conducted by the Online.
The outbreak of gastroenteritis in Faislabad and Hyderabad and death of 18 patients over the past 15 days, has spread panic among people in Karachi, but no concrete measures have so far been taken either by the Sindh government or the city government in this regard.
In-charge Accident and Emergency Department of the JPMC Dr Seemin Jamali said that the situation in the city was no alarming as only 30-40 patients of gastroenteritis were being provided treatment at the hospital in a day.
“There is no need to get panicked as they are routine patients,” she said, adding that after being provided treatment, they were being sent home. So far, no critical case of gastroenteritis had been reported, she maintained.
The Online survey reveals that 40 to 45 gastroenteritis cases are being reported at the civil hospital in Karachi and most of the patients come from Sohrab Goth, Shafiq Colony, Usmanabad, Ranchhor Line, Sachal Goth, Ghasmandi and old city areas, where complaints of contaminated water being supplied by through tankers are widespread.
At the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, more than 20 gastroenteritis patients are reporting every day.
A doctor at the hospital said that contaminated water appeared to be the major cause of the disease in most cases, the other causes being consumption of substandard beverages and bottled water, rotten fruits, raw and unwashed vegetables, unsafe food served at eating houses, etc.
Usually, the doctor pointed out, a rise in gastroenteritis cases was noted during the May- August period as in summer, food would get spoiled sooner than in winters.
Health experts say that although the situation had not yet turned alarming, the government should take precautionary measures immediate, especially with regard to ensuring supply of clean drinking water, to prevent an outbreak. In this context, he referred to an incident in Landhi last year where some water-borne disease had claimed 12 lives.
An official of the city government said that the Quality Control and Regulation
Department (QCRD) had collected 9,000 water samples from all 18 towns during the last five years. He said that 50 per cent of them were found containing E-coli, but the KWSB officials had never bothered to take remedial measures despite many remainders having been sent to the officials concerned.
One of the major reasons for the contamination of water is the old fragile network of water supply and sewerage owing to which clean water gets mixed with sewage, the city government official maintained.
Recently, the KWSB has established the Contaminate Removing Unit (CRU) to prevent the mixing of potable water and sewage.—Online
