Five new diarrhoea cases detected in Indore no clarity over 'death audit' report

Indore, Jan 13 (PTI) Five new cases of diarrhoea, linked to drinking contaminated water in the Bhagirathpura area of Indore, the country's cleanest city, were found on Tuesday, a Madhya Pradesh health department official said.
Indore Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani said the new diarrhoea patients from Bhagirathpura visited the outpatient department (OPD) of health centres, where they were treated.
A total of 436 patients were admitted to hospitals since the vomiting and diarrhoea outbreak, triggered by supply of contaminated drinking water in the locality on December 29, of which 403 were discharged after recovery, he stated.
According to the CMHO, currently 33 patients are hospitalised, of which eight are in intensive care units (ICUs) of hospitals.
The local administration has so far confirmed the deaths of six people due to vomiting and diarrhoea caused by drinking contaminated water. However, local residents claimed 23 patients, including a six-month-old child, have died so far due to the outbreak.
Meanwhile, a committee from the city-based and government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College has submitted an 'audit' report to the administration on the deaths of 21 people in Bhagirathpura.
Sources familiar with the contents of the report said 15 of these deaths may be linked to the vomiting and diarrhoea outbreak in some way.
District Magistrate Shivam Verma told reporters, "A committee of senior doctors from the college was formed to analyse the causes of the deaths in Bhagirathpura. This committee has submitted its report."
Verma, however, did not provide specific details about the 'death audit' report.
He said some fatalities in Bhagirathpura were likely due to vomiting and diarrhoea caused by unclean drinking water, but the deaths of some patients were unrelated to the outbreak.
The committee could not reach at any conclusion regarding the actual cause of death in some other cases, said the senior bureaucrat.
He said the district administration has so far provided financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to 18 affected families in Bhagirathpura.
The District Magistrate said, "All the deaths in Bhagirathpura are very sad, regardless of the cause. We are consoling the affected families and providing them financial assistance."

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)