Chandigarh, February 16 No new deaths have been reported from a village in Haryana's Palwal district, where seven people died due to liver-related ailments, prompting the health department to monitor the situation around the clock, officials said on Monday.
Seven deaths, four of which were due to Hepatitis B, were reported in the Chhainsa village in the Hathin sub-division over the past two weeks.
Some villagers, however, claimed that the number of deaths was higher. They also claimed that a lack of clean drinking water aggravated the problem.
The village, located about 30 km from the district headquarters, has a population of nearly 5,700 people, and the deaths have prompted the authorities to deploy teams and test the blood samples of the residents.
Three of the seven who died also had liver infections, which could be waterborne or due to food poisoning, the officials said.
Many in the village work as drivers, spending long periods away from home, while some are farmers.
A health department official said that one of the deceased, a truck driver, fell ill outside the state and rushed back home for treatment.
The seven people who died included two boys aged 9 and 14, two girls aged 9 and 15, a 42-year-old man, a 22-year-old man, and a 67-year-old woman, the officials said.
The officials said that four of the deceased tested positive for Hepatitis B, which is a serious liver infection caused by the Hepatitis B Virus.
The health department is collecting blood samples for testing, the officials said, adding that bacteriological sampling of drinking water sources is also being conducted.
Those who died showed symptoms such as fever, vomiting, weakness, and abdominal pain.
Palwal Deputy Commissioner Harish Kumar Vashishth told PTI on Monday that the situation is under control, though it is being monitored around the clock, with teams camping in the village for the past two weeks.
Among the samples collected so far, 20 have been found to have Hepatitis C, a viral infection that causes liver swelling, Vashishth said.
The health department is running an OPD in the village, said the official, who has visited the area to take stock of the situation.
A few quacks are also under the scanner, and there is a possibility of a syringe being used multiple times, as people sometimes seek treatment from them, the official said.
While chlorination of water is being ensured in the village, a team from the government medical college at Nalhar in Nuh will visit the area to probe the matter, the official said.
Health Minister Arti Singh Rao has directed the health department to take all possible steps to tackle the situation, he added.
Mohd Imran, a villager, claimed before reporters that 15-20 people died in the village in the past three weeks, and that the numbers could be more.
Another villager, Mohd Tahir, said that there is an atmosphere of fear in the village after so many deaths.
He also alleged that the drinking water in the village was dirty and often unfit for drinking.
The chief medical officer (CMO) of Palwal, Satinder Vashisth, said that no new deaths have been reported after February 11, with 2-3 patients still admitted to the hospital.
Nearly 1,400 blood samples have been collected so far, she told
She also said that water samples have been collected from the storage tanks in people's houses, of which six failed to meet the prescribed criteria.
