On November 28 evening, a patient was brought to the Government District Hospital in Eluru town in Andhra Pradesh. After closely examining the patient, the doctors treated it as a case of epilepsy and discharged him. The doctors could not ascertain the reasons behind the fever and seizures. The next day, there was a similar case. This case, too, surprised the doctors. In the following days, there were a couple of cases wherein the patient would have seizures one moment and then lose consciousness within 5-10 seconds.
“I have never seen such cases in my professional life,” said Srinivas Rao, senior physician of Government District Hospital in Eluru who had treated the patients of “mysterious illness” in the early days.
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On December 5, around 100 patients with similar symptoms, accompanied by vomiting in some cases, landed up in the hospital, leaving the doctors and the health department looking for answers. A 46-year-old person also died while experiencing seizures. Cases peaked the next day as 210 cases were reported. As of today, 457 people have been affected by the unknown illness. According to officials, more than half of them have been discharged and none of them are in serious condition.
Eluru, with a population of 2 lakh, is located in West Godavari district. Almost all the cases have been reported from across the town. However, on Monday, 3-4 patients from villages bordering the town, also complained of similar illness.
“Only 1 or 2 members of a family are getting affected. There is no common connection to these cases as they belong to different localities drinking water through different ways,” said a local reporter working for a regional news channel.
Authorities have taken up door-to-door survey in 57,863 households in a span of 24 hours. Round-the-clock medical camps along with ambulance services have also been arranged.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy reached Eluru and met the patients. Health Minister A. Nani informed the media that the government is keeping a close watch on the in-patients also and there were a few cases where the patients returned with similar symptoms after getting discharged.
The state government tested the water samples but found no abnormality. Milk samples have been sent for testing. For the patients, a battery of tests conducted on them including COVID-19, dengue, chikungunya and others returned negative.
To solve the mystery, the AP government has invited a team from World Health Organisation (WHO) who would be visiting the affected areas and examining the patients. Prestigious institutes like Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and AIIMS, Delhi, are already investigating the illness and its causes.