Hundreds hospitalised with ‘mystery illness’ in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (C-L) meeting with the patients going under treatment for an unknown disease

Credit: STR HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock /Shutterstock

One person has died and over 300 have been hospitalised with a ‘mystery illness’ in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Patients at hospitals in the town of Eluru are suffering from nausea, burning eyes and seizures, according to local medical officials. The cause of the sickness remains unknown.

“The people who fell sick, especially the children, suddenly started vomiting after complaining of burning eyes. Some of them fainted or suffered bouts of seizures,” a medical officer at the Eluru Government Hospital told the Indian Express.

All of those who were hospitalised have tested negative for Covid-19, according to the state’s Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas. Andhra Pradesh has the third-highest caseload of any state in India with 800,000, despite being the 10th most populous state. 

“We ruled out water contamination or air pollution as the cause after officials visited the areas where people fell sick,” Mr Srinivas said. He added that both blood and water samples have been sent off for lab analysis.

“Of the 300-odd affected, about 125 have been discharged by Sunday evening,” the health minister added.

The #Eluru incident is just the tip of an iceberg. The Govt's negligence & the deterioration of healthcare services across AP stands exposed today. It's a shame for any Govt if it can't provide basic necessities like safe & clean drinking water to our people (3/3)

— N Chandrababu Naidu #StayHomeSaveLives (@ncbn) December 6, 2020

The Andhra Pradesh Health Department released a statement saying that initial tests did not reveal any viral infection. This rules out diseases such as dengue or chikungunya, which are both caused by mosquito bites.

However, the state’s former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has called for a full inquiry into the outbreak, pointing to water contamination as the likely cause.

“I demand an impartial, full-fledged inquiry into the incident,” he wrote on Twitter. “The Eluru water contamination incident calls for a declaration of Health Emergency in Andhra Pradesh.”

A report in the Indian Express claimed that a case of contaminated water was reported in Eluru 10 days prior to the hospitalisations. 

The current Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy said specialist medical teams have been dispatched and are conducting door-to-door surveys in order to get control of the situation.