NAWABSHAH, May 7: An infant died and more than 50 people suffering from gastroenteritis were admitted to the Nawabshah Medical College Hospital on Sunday and Monday.

Areeba, one and a half year old daughter of Abdul Munam, had been suffering from the disease for a couple of days and was under treatment of a private medical practitioner. On Sunday night she died in her home on Maryam Road in the city. Forty adults have been admitted to the medical wards of the NMCH and about 10 children to the children’s ward.

Dr Ahsan of the Paediatrics ward told Dawn that the number of the patients was low compared to the figures in April. However, sources in the hospital said that the doctors at the ward had been directed to avoid talking to media persons on the issue and not provide any details to them.

Assistant Professor, Medical Unit-I, Dr Mohammed Saleem Faiz attributed consumption of contaminated water and putrid fruits to the outbreak of the disease. He said that most of the patients were stable and sufficient medicines were available in the hospital. Most of the patients are residents of Nawabshah city and surroundings and Saeedabad and Doulatpur towns.

Pipelines of water supply and drainage in the city are almost 50 years old and most of them have almost collapsed. Complaints of the jumbling of the two kinds of pipelines have been repeatedly made to the taluka municipal administration (TMA) but sufficient measures have not been taken to solve the problem so far.

Nawabshah Taluka Nazim Abdul Rauf Khan claimed that the pipelines were being repaired and there was no complaint of their jumbling at present. He insisted that the spread of gastroenteritis was due to consumption of subsoil water and the TMA was not responsible for it.

Our Hyderabad correspondent adds: Another 26 patients suffering from gastroenteritis were admitted to different government hospitals while 33 were treated at the outpatient department (OPD) of these hospitals on Monday.

According to the EDO Health Office, three, 10 and 13 patients have been admitted to Paretabad, Bhittai and Liaquat University hospitals, respectively.