AP: Over 300 taken ill in Eluru after drinking contaminated water

They were undergoing treatment at the Government Hospital Eluru as well as some private ones while ten cases were referred to Vijayawada for specialist treatment

Eluru: Over 300 persons fell sick after consuming contaminated water in Eluru city, headquarters of West Godavari district since late Saturday. They were undergoing treatment at the Government Hospital Eluru as well as some private ones while ten cases were referred to Vijayawada for specialist treatment.

Medical teams were rushed to the city as health authorities in Andhra Pradesh sounded an alert. Special medical camps were being conducted in places which reported more cases as most of the patients reported symptoms of nausea and giddiness. Some of the patients were brought to hospitals after they suddenly collapsed and were frothing from the mouth and also shivering.

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Over 120 patients who had recovered were discharged. A door-to-door survey was also taken up and the samples were sent to the virology lab for testing. Some of the patients who had shown symptoms of epilepsy were out of danger, doctors said. Most of them complained of giddiness and vomiting.

Meanwhile, medical and health experts were trying to ascertain the cause of sickness. Most of the affected people were elderly and children. Authorities were baffled as the affected people were neither related nor they had attended a common event.

The blood samples of those reported sick were also collected but the reports were found to be normal.

Health Minister Alla Nani, who visited the Government Hospital, said the Covid-19 samples of the patients were also tested and none of them found positive.

He said 150 beds in Eluru and 50 beds in Vijayawada were kept ready for any emergency. “The government is taking all necessary steps. There is no need for any panic,” he said, adding that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was personally monitoring the situation.

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