Kathmandu, June 21: Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital has confirmed cholera in one more person along with the spread of diarrhea for the past one week in the Kathmandu Valley.
Cholera was confirmed in a 72-year-old man from Sanepa on Monday. The hospital has stated that he has been admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital.
According to Physician Dr Kijan Maharjan, samples have been collected from a woman of Kalimati for examination after she went to the Sukraraj hospital, popularly known as Teku Hospital, on Monday following the symptoms of cholera. “Her sample report is yet to arrive,” he said. According to him, kidney problems have been diagnosed in a man suffering from cholera.
Cholera detected in Kathmandu Valley
With this, the number of people confirmed with cholera in recent days has reached three in the Valley. Two sisters who were confirmed with cholera used to drink tap water directly without boiling it whereas the man from Sanepa had been drinking bottled water. After being diagnosed with kidney problems resulting from cholera, they have been undergoing treatment in the hospital for the past four days. Dr Maharjan said that their health is getting back to normal.
Doctors have estimated that the major reason behind the diagnosis of cholera in three persons in the Valley recently could be impure water. Apart from cholera, eight diarrhea patients are admitted to the hospital daily which means that 60 diarrhea patients get treated in a week on average.
According to Kathmandu Model Hospital, four diarrhea patients get admitted to the emergency room for treatment daily. Director of the hospital, Dr Bijendra Joshi said that about 10 percent of patients are diarrhea patients. Most of them are nearby residents.
Director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, Dr Chuman Lal Das said that an on-site study team has been deployed in Bagbazar where cholera was confirmed in two people. The team will research the situation of drinking water in that area. Dr Das further said that they were conducting awareness programmes to prevent any further spread of the disease.
The spread of diarrhea was seen in the monsoon season in previous years as well and the patients have been found to be drinking bottled water. According to the coordinator of the hospital’s research department, Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, it seems even bottled water available in jars is not purified since the cholera bacterium was found while monitoring such water even in past years. The Ministry of Health and Population has appealed to all to drink water after boiling or filtering, to focus on sanitation and not to defecate indiscriminately.
If cholera isn’t treated in time, it can affect the kidney and other organs of the body and there is a possibility of death of up to 50 percent of cholera patients. As cholera is communicable, it is suggested to wash hands properly, drink boiled or filtered water, avoid eating stale and unhygienic food.
Due to a surge in the demand for jar water in the Valley, some enterprises have been delivering impure water without proper filtering, resulting in the spread of diarrhea among its consumers. To prevent this, it is suggested that the government increase the effectiveness of testing and monitoring of suspicious water.
