Hepatitis cases going up: Lab reports

KOCHI: Even while the authorities try to pass off the Hepatitis-A outbreak as an incident occurred out of using contaminated liquor, the facts collected from the diagnostic laboratories in the area show that it has reached the level of an epidemic. According to the details gathered from a couple of private diagnostic laboratories in Kothamangalam alone, the nearest town from Varappetty, around 50 persons were tested Hepatitis-A positive.But the authorities with the Health Department in the district put the number of Hepatitis cases at 17.“The total number of Hepatitis-A cases reported in the district in the current year is 22. Today, we have conducted diagnostic camps in Kuttampuzha and Varappetty. The results will be known only on Tuesday. But  the symptoms were present in less number of people who underwent the test,” said Dr Haseena Mohammed, Additional DMO, Ernakulam. “We have taken serum samples from the kith and ken of those who have already been tested Hepatitis-A positive,” she said.According to some of the Health Department officials, they have a tough time in diagnosing the disease as most of the patients go for the indigenous method of treatment. “We have decided to start more programmes to create awareness on the disease among the public. We will seek the help of those including the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers to bring the patients to the hospitals,” DMO Dr Sudhakaran said. More number of cases have been reported from Kuttampuzha and Varappetty, near Kothamangalam. According to the informal data collected from Kuttampuzha, 21 cases have already been identified in the area alone. The results of the serum samples collected on Monday will be out only after a couple of days. The authorities say the patients in the area also consume alcohol. The recent deaths due to the disease have created panic in the area. In some of the diagnostic centres in Kothamangalam and Perumbavoor, many persons come up for diagnosis on their own. “In the last couple of days, around ten persons came here for testing their serum samples. They did not have the prescription of any doctors. They came on their own,” said a staffer of a diagnostic centre at Kothamangalam said.