PESHAWAR, May 21: At least 50 patients were admitted to the city’s three major hospitals after they suffered from gastroenteritis, health officials said on Monday. Some 25 patients were admitted to the Khyber Teaching Hospital, they said. According to them, doctors at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) also admitted dozens of patients with gastroenteritis.

Officials said the emergency cell at the directorate of health services were yet to receive any information about the possible epidemic from the districts. “There is no mechanism at the emergency cell to collect data about the patients and because of this, the epidemic could get out of control,” he said.

He said the city’s hospitals had been receiving patients since May 15, but the directorate was yet to collate the data.

Doctors working at the city’s hospitals said they had been receiving patients with gastroenteritis from Mardan, Nowshera, North and South Waziristan and Peshawar. They said there was no surveillance system to ascertain the exact number of patients suffering from the disease.

They said the disease could be controlled by launching a public awareness campaign about causes of the ailment and prompt remedial measures. Doctors said that the people using rotten fruits and food items being prepared and sold in unhygienic conditions caused the disease.

They said that aged people and children were most vulnerable to the disease and they should be rushed to the nearest hospital in case of diarrhoea.

Officials of the World Health Organisation told Dawn that they were collecting data about the number of patients hit by the disease.

They said that the world health agency would provide technical support to the provincial government to cope with the situation.