The Budgam district in central Kashmir has had a jaundice epidemic in the Riyar region of the Khansahib block. Eight people have tested positive for the illness, and one person has died from it.
According to a local official, eight instances of jaundice have been documented, one of which has resulted in fatalities while the conditions of the other seven remain stable.
He said that two days before, a 10-year-old child named Abid, son of Ab Salam from Riyar village in Khansahib, who tested positive for jaundice, had passed away due to the jaundice epidemic that had been caused by the distribution of polluted water.
According to Dr. Mir Mushtaq, the Directorate of Health Services Kashmir’s (DHSK) Spokesperson, the block Khansahib monitoring and fast response teams are working tirelessly to reduce jaundice cases in the Raiyar area.
Hundreds of persons have been checked for an increase in serum bilirubin thanks to the efforts of teams led by Incharge Medical Officer Raiyar, Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad Banday. Meanwhile, the Paediatrician at SDH, Khansahib has been seeing patients of all ages, he added.
He also said that thousands of individuals in the region have already been inspected, thus the issue is under control.
Since the program’s inception, IDSP has gathered the following data: “1,430 patients have been screened; 370 by paediatricians; 123 samples have been taken for investigation of jaundice; 30 patients are under surveillance; 160 samples have been collected for LFT; 438 for serum bilirubin; 10 for correlogram; all 10 were found to be normal; and IDSP has collected 3 water samples.”
The outlying region is around 8 km from the Block Headquarters and about 26 km from the District Headquarters in Budgam. The Primary Health Care Centre in Riyar is the closest hospital. The severity of the sickness, he assured us, is under control.
“ASHAs of concerned areas along with health workers have been distributing chlorine tablets and ORS packets among the inhabitants at door steps while field staff are continuously educating the people to take safe drinking water and also demonstrating the steps of hand washing to the people of this area,” said Mir Mushtaq.
