KARACHI, May 8: At least 15 out of 50 people, including women and children, who had complained of diarrhoeal episodes after consuming water reportedly from a seldom used well in Gadap Town, were rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for emergency treatment on Tuesday, said health officials.

Deputy Director and in-charge of JPMC accidents and emergency department, Dr Seemi Jamali, said on Tuesday afternoon that in all 15 patients of ages between 10 to 60 years, brought to the hospital in the wee hours of Tuesday and the following morning as well, were provided treatment, but none of them was diagnosed as severe case of gastroenteritis.

She said that a majority of the patients were given medications, while a very few of them had to be dehydrated. Those who had reported after midnight and the following morning had been discharged, she added, saying all of the patients had the history of vomiting and diarrhoea which they attributed to some wedding meals.

The patients given treatment at the JPMC were: Jamila (25), Fauzia (10), Ghulam Ali (22), Sharif (20), Abdul Rashid (22), Mehnaz (60), Abdul Wahid (13), Ahmed Saeed (12), Mohammad (28), Sajid (22), Niaz Ali (28), Salman Mohammad (40), Razia (30), Hamida (20) and Abdul Ghaffar (50).

The affected people are the resident of Haji Hussain Jokhio Goth, UC-3, Gadap Town, around 50km off the Super Highway. The health department of the city government has also set up a round-the-clock medical camp in the area since Monday, which provided primary care to people complaining about stomach problems, said a government official.

Contradicting the earlier apprehensions about outbreak of any disease due to food poisoning or major drinking water contamination, a source privy to the medical camp said that the area in question sans any piped supply of water mostly relied on 4-5 wells for their needs.

In the wake of a marriage ceremony, which was held on Sunday, the area people decided to fetch water from a rarely used or almost abandoned well. Generally, they used water from the fit well, but they also consumed water for drinking and cooking from the faulty well to meet the increased requirement, a health worker quoted an area resident.

EDO Health Dr A D Sajnani, who also visited the area of the affected people, said that relevant staffs had collected about 50 samples of water from different well, including the faulty one, nearby ponds, and home water-reservoirs to ascertain the chemical contents and overall quality of drinking water in the locality in question.

He said that there was no major medical case and people normally complained about vomiting and diarrhoeal episodes. However, we have placed an ambulance for any emergency shifting to major hospitals in the city, he informed. It was further learnt that some people were also taken to some nearby private hospitals for treatment.